Immigrant Protection
Keeping immigrant communities strong.
Immigration status reverberates throughout our clients’ lives. Undocumented immigrants may be unable to access life-saving medical treatment and pursue jobs to afford basic necessities. They may also be at risk of deportation back to countries where they could face violence. They may also have their families torn apart by the immigration system.
By helping our clients secure the status to which they are entitled, we can unlock access to health care, employment, housing, and education, and keep families together. We offer comprehensive legal services in our clients’ native languages and partner with communities, providing services in trusted local spaces, such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
23,000
immigrants served by NYLAG immigration experts last year
6,300
children impacted by NYLAG’s immigration work
15,000
immigrants represented by NYLAG in removal proceedings and appeals, including people in detention
Services
Our lawyers fight for immigrants. We offer the following legal services:
- Defending people facing deportation (removal defense)
- Fighting for those seeking asylum and other humanitarian relief
- Helping clients apply for green cards through family-based petitions (adjustment of status)
- Working with survivors of intimate partner violence and other crimes to secure immigration status
- Applying for citizenship (naturalization)
Need free legal services or financial counseling?
Help us provide free legal help to immigrant families and individuals.
The Latest on Immigration Law

Detained Queens Grover Cleveland HS Student Derlis to Be Released from ICE Facility in Texas on Bond
NYLAG and Envision Freedom Fund secure the release of Derlis, a Queens student, and Edwin, a man with developmental and auditory disabilities, from ICE detention.

City Limits: How NYC’s Latest Budget Impacts Immigrant Communities
The City’s proposed FY26 budget includes $74.7 million for immigration legal services — a lifeline for NYLAG’s work in this dire moment.

Gothamist: ‘They’re killing us’: Immigrants complain of inhumane conditions inside NYC holding site
NYLAG attorneys, like Rebecca Rubin, spoke with Gothamist about the conditions immigrants detained in federal holding rooms in Lower Manhattan are reporting.