Immigrant Arc

We are a community of legal representatives and a New York based immigration law training and policy institute, working together to fight for New York’s immigrant communities. On January 28, 2017, hundreds of lawyers descended on JFK Airport to help those caught in the Muslim Travel Ban. Three weeks later, we met in a law firm conference room, scared by the recent and upcoming developments, but energized by what we had accomplished by working together. Out of that meeting, the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative, or I-ARC, was born. Our mission is clear: to mobilize New York’s legal representatives to better serve our communities, to organize our resources and strategies because we are stronger when we work together, and to resist anti-immigrant policies by shining a light on injustices and confronting inequalities faced by our communities in the legal system. Through I-ARC, New York’s immigration bar has fostered and supported stronger connections between legal representatives, facilitating the exchange of ideas, legal theories, and materials that ease the burden put on attorneys by the constant shifts and continued intensification of immigration law and policy. At the same time, we have documented and elevated the breakdown of the immigration legal system to law makers and policy leaders, joining our voice to many efforts and effectuating systems change. Begun as a volunteer-led effort among our various organizational members, in 2020 I-ARC became its own non-profit. As we look to the future, we will continue to use our legal skills to hold the government accountable to our immigrant communities and their allies, and to fight for each and every person we represent.