The North County Immigration Task Force (NCITF) is a pro-immigration advocacy and services organization in northern San Diego County, California. ¹ It promotes left-of-center immigration policies based on a purported “human right to migrate,” including California’s “Sanctuary State” law that prohibits local law enforcement from coordinating with or supporting federal agencies’ enforcement of immigration law.  ^{2  3}

Overview

The North County Immigration Task Force promotes left-of-center immigration policies and provides services to both legal and illegal immigrants. Its focus is northern San Diego County, which includes the wealthy oceanside communities such as Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Oceanside, as well as less-wealthy communities in the eastern part of the region. ⁴ The region also includes the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton. ⁵

NCITF does not appear to have a formal corporate structure or nonprofit tax status. As of October 2025, the donation page on its website was non-functional, it did not advertise an office address, and no organization with its name was registered with the Internal Revenue Service or California Secretary of State. ^{6  7  8}

The founder and co-chair of the NCITF is Tazheen Nizam, who, since 2021, has also been the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations-San Diego (CAIR-San Diego). ⁹

Advocacy

The North County Immigration Task Force regularly engages in advocacy on behalf of pro-immigration, left-of-center legislation and policies. It opposes funding for border security, supports “sanctuary cities,” and broadly opposes increased immigration law enforcement efforts under the first and second Trump administrations.  ^{10  11  12  2}

The NCITF’s partners include ACLU-San Diego and Imperial Counties, the San Diego Rapid Response Network, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. ¹³ Its work has also been promoted by the American Immigration Council, a left-of-center advocacy group founded by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. ^{14  15}

The NCITF opposes the San Diego Sheriff’s Department’s cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol. ³ In 2021, it joined the League of Women Voters of San Diego and 50 other organizations in criticizing then-Sheriff Bill Gore for “violating the spirit” of the California Values Act, often referred to as California’s “Sanctuary State Law,” by notifying ICE when individuals wanted by ICE were released from county custody. ^{16  3}

In 2021, it supported a particular redistricting proposal developed by the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission, praising it as consolidating the NCITF’s interests into one legislative district. ¹⁷

In 2019, the NCITF joined a coalition supporting the “American Dream and Promise Act” to create a path to citizenship for certain classes of illegal immigrants, including so-called “Dreamers” who were brought to the country as minor children. ¹⁸

In 2016, the NCITF supported resettlement in the United States of refugees from the Syrian civil war. ¹⁹ It opposed the American SAFE Act of 2015, which would have required background investigations into potential refugees from Iraq or Syria to ensure that members of Islamist terrorist organizations did not use the refugee program to enter the United States. ²⁰

During the 2016 election cycle, the NCITF volunteers undertook voter registration efforts in San Diego County, including at a local high school. ²¹ PBS News covered the coalition’s efforts as part of a story on a rise in “No Party Affiliation” registration among Latino voters in California.  ²¹

1. “Home/Portada.” ncitf. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://www.ncitf.org/.
2. “Sign the Petition: Respect the Human Right to Migrate and End Militarization at the Border.” Action Network. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-respect-the-human-right-to-migrate-and-end-militarization-at-the-border?nowrapper=true.
3. “2021 TRUTH Act Forum.” LWV San Diego, November 10, 2021. https://lwvsandiego.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=681146&item_id=70505.
4. “Guide to North County San Diego.” Visit California. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/north-county-san-diego/.
5. “San Diego County’s North Regions, California.” Communities of Excellence 2026. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://communitiesofexcellence2026.org/what-we-do/learning-collaborative/communities/san-diego-north-regions-california.html.
6. “Directory.” Spotlight on the Border, October 27, 2022. https://spotlight.nnirr.org/directory/.
7. “Tax Exempt Organization Search.” Internal Revenue Service. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search.
8. “Business Search.” California Secretary of State. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business.
9. “Tazheen Nizam.” CAIR California. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://ca.cair.com/staff/tazheen-nizam/.
10. “200+ Organizations Call on Congress to Reject Funding Increases for Immigration Enforcement during Lame Duck, Cut Funding in 2019.” National Immigrant Justice Center, November 14, 2018. https://immigrantjustice.org/press-release/200-organizations-call-on-congress-to-reject-funding-increases-for-immigration-enforcement-during-lame-duck-cut-funding-in-2019/.
11. “RE: Vote NO on the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, H.R. 3003, and Kate’s Law, H.R. 3004 .” Immigrant Legal Resource Center, June 28, 2017. https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/2016-07-29_ngo_letter_opposing_h.r.3003_and_h.r.3004v2.pdf.
12. “League Calls on Congress to Defund Hate.” League of Women Voters, June 18, 2018. https://www.lwv.org/immigration/league-calls-congress-defund-hate.
13. “Resources / Recursos.” ncitf. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://www.ncitf.org/resources.
14. “When a 5th Grader Acts out, a Teacher Finds out Why: His Mother Had Been Deported.” American Immigration Council, July 21, 2016. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/story/when-a-5th-grader-acts-out-a-teacher-finds-out-why-his-mother-had-been-deported/.
15. “Patricia Serrano’s Son Just Graduated from Williams College, but She Couldn’t Attend the Ceremony.” American Immigration Council, July 13, 2016. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/story/patricia-serranos-son-just-graduated-from-williams-college-but-she-couldnt-attend-the-ceremony/.
16. “California Values Act (SB 54).” ICE Out of California. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://www.iceoutofca.org/values.html.
17. Vargas, Juan. “North County Immigration Task Force Support of Map 13A.” San Diego County, December 2, 2021. https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/redistricting/docs/ircmeetings/e-comments/12-2-21-ecomments-and-public-input/Letter%20-%20North%20County%20Immigration%20Task%20Force%2012.2.21.pdf.
18. “Congress: Pass the Promise and DREAM Act!” Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, May 21, 2019. https://www.ilcm.org/latest-news/congress-pass-the-promise-and-dream-act/.
19. “National and Local Organizations Support the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program and Oppose Legislation That Would Stop the Resettlement of Syrian Refugees.” Refugees International, January 15, 2016. https://www.refugeesinternational.org/advocacy-letters/national-and-local-organizations-support-the-u-s-refugee-resettlement-program-and-oppose-legislation-that-would-stop-the-resettlement-of-syrian-refugees/.
20. “H.R.4038 – 114th Congress (2015-2016): American Safe Act of 2015.” Library of Congress, 2015. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4038.
21. Gomez, Amanda. “In California, More Latinos Registering as ‘No-Party Voters.’” PBS, June 6, 2016. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-california-more-latinos-registering-as-no-party-voters.