Our Approach
Train, Mobilize, Organize
SCIJ trains and mobilizes college students to provide free legal representation to asylum seekers and to organize for immigrant justice. By partnering with colleges and pairing students with immigration organizations and attorneys, SCIJ is building on the current ecosystem of immigration service providers, expanding access to representation, and developing a network to advocate for transformative change.
Train Students
Through SCIJ’s training program, students gain a deep knowledge of immigration law, learn about the history of and systemic issues with US immigration, and build skills in community organizing. Click here to learn more.
Mobilize
After students have been trained, they’re mobilized to provide representation to asylum seekers by pairing students up with SCIJ’s partner attorneys and immigration organizations. Click here to learn more.
Organize
As students work on cases, they create intentional relationships with clients, the local immigrant community, and other immigration organizations to understand and identify issues most directly impacting immigrants locally, and then organize for policy change. Click here to learn more.
The Context We Find Ourselves In
Restricting migration has been used as a tool of oppression by white people throughout US history, from early laws such as the Naturalization Act which explicitly limited naturalization to “free white persons” to modern-day regulations punishing immigrants with criminal records and disproportionately harming people with black or brown skin.
The root cause of migration being used as a tool of oppression stems from a drive for power and this problem will persist unless there is a countervailing force to push against white supremacy’s stranglehold on migration.
We must both meet the needs of people facing the immigration system today and push for transformative shifts in how we approach immigration.
That’s why SCIJ takes a two-pronged approach: advocate for justice in the courts and organize for long-term change.
What We’re Working Towards
Our Theory of Change
Start: Aimed towards creating a just immigration system, SCIJ’s theory of change begins with training the students who will lead this work.
Immediate Impact: SCIJ’s trained students are then mobilized to fight for immigrant justice in the courts through legal representation and social transformation in the streets through community organizing and advocacy.
Short-Term: The immigration system is held accountable, individual immigrants receive justice, students are empowered to create change, and precedent is set for legal paradigm shifts.
Long-Term: The entire immigration system is shifted towards being just, society’s perceptions of immigrants changes, and there is a generation of students dedicated to changemaking.
Continuous Impact: And during each of these steps, SCIJ’s training program continuously impacts the outcomes from equipping students with the skills to fight, to empowering them to create change, to being part of a generation leading the charge for social transformation.
