Central American "Family Separation" "Southern Border" "Legal Services" "Legal Aid" "Donate"

June xv, 2018

[Content Alarm: Domestic violence]

On Mon, June 11, Attorney General Jeff Sessions used a rarely utilized ability to reverse a Board of Clearing Appeals decision in Matter of A-B- and refuse the asylum merits of a woman fleeing fifteen years of extreme domestic violence in El salvador. This decision will accept profound negative effects on women seeking protection in the US based on domestic violence in their home countries, too as minors fleeing persecution from gangs – both of which have been firmly upheld by clearing courts since 2014 as legitimate grounds for asylum.

OneJustice firmly opposes this sweeping move to deny asylum seekers the opportunity to seek safe in the United States.

The woman in Matter of A-B- was brutally browbeaten (including while pregnant), bashed into walls, and threatened with death at knife and gun point, with no relief from law enforcement. And her abuse did not occur in isolation. Violence confronting women in El Salvador is extreme – the country sees the highest rates of femicide in the world, with over 500 women murdered (ane in five,000) in 2016.

Too, it is well documented that the majority of those fleeing persecution from gangs in Primal America are women and children. The Un High Commissioner for Refugees reports that "gangs routinely threaten and recruit children as young every bit five or 6." Many of these children are often offered a horrifying selection: bring together the gang, or be killed.

Yet these facts and the facts of the case in Affair of A-B- were ignored by the Attorney General, who stated that aviary claims "pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence" should "generally" not be canonical. This statement is wide-sweeping and will immediately impact the decisions of asylum adjudicators around the state. It represents an assail not only on refugees seeking protection, but specifically an assault on women and children fleeing violence .

To be clear, seeking asylum from violence is a human right recognized past both international and United states of america domestic law. Moreover, those with valid claims to asylum (in other words, those who are fleeing persecution for one of 5 reasons) cannot be punished for entering the land illegally. Prior to this determination, immigration courts had long recognized the real threat facing people fleeing their homes in Central America – too every bit the threat of violence should they return. The Attorney Full general's claim that this decision somehow restores previously "[abandoned] legal discipline and sound legal concepts" is flatly wrong.

Despite the Attorney General's decision, domestic violence survivors and survivors of gang persecution who come across the legal requirements for asylum must nevertheless exist provided a fair opportunity to present their individual claims. OneJustice will be tracking the impact of this contempo determination and strategically intervening to push back against Sessions' erroneous and harmful interpretation of the law and support organizations and communities fighting for justice on the ground.

You can stand for the rights of refugees!

As an chaser , you tin stand for a woman seeking aviary – including through the post-obit resources:

• CLINIC's BIA Pro Bono Appeals Projection
• Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project's Pro Bono Program
• Santa Fe Dreamers Projection (or email Allegra Love at allegra@santafedreamersproject.org )
• Clearing Advocates Network Pro Bono Resource Volunteer Guide
• CARA Family unit Detention Project
• SouthEast Immigrant Freedom Initiative
• Or cheque with your local immigration services providers

As an individual, you can ensure that our policymakers understand the basic principles that underpin American laws and have action to protect the basic human rights of all on United states soil. Yous can also lend your financial support to organizations working to ensure the bones rights of immigrants, and to represent men, women and children in displacement proceedings, including:

• Middle for Gender and Refugee Studies, UC Hastings
• Kids In Need of Defence (KIND)
• Tahirih Justice Center
• United We Dream

Interested in providing pro bono help for immigrants and their families across the state?
Sign upward for OneJustice'due south Immigration Pro Bono Network to receive volunteer opportunities and immigration updates!

May xiv, 2018

On Monday, May seven, 2018, U.s.a. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a "naught tolerance" approach to migrants at the U.s. border, including an endeavor to prosecute anyone who crosses the Southern edge, and systemic separation of children from their parents. OneJustice opposes these policies, which take the potential to destroy the lives of migrant children and families. The Attorney General'due south statement represents an un-American difference from common standards of decency and a violation of domestic and international constabulary.

The right to seek and enjoy asylum is a fundamental human right codification past the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and reaffirmed by international, regional and domestic refugee laws around the world. The United States was one of the main authors of both the UDHR and the 1951 Refugee Convention, which reflected the global community's desire to give human beings a means of escape from atrocities like those seen in World War II.

We seem to have forgotten this by.

In 2014, the Un Refugee Agency conducted a study of 404 unaccompanied or separated children arriving in the United states of america from Central America. This study establish that 58% of these children may have asylum claims and thus legally have a right to present themselves to the U.S. Since that time, violence has merely escalated in the region, giving women, children and families no option but to face up farthermost danger to try and reach the Southern border of the The states.

Jessica Therkelsen, Manager of the Pro Bono Justice program at OneJustice, condemned the administration's movement: "To greet these migrants with prosecution and family unit separation is unconscionable, inhumane, and ignores their basic right to ask for asylum."

Under this new, stricter system, children will be treated as if they were arriving alone at the edge and thus candy in a very different organisation from their parents. This ways that whatsoever kid Non from United mexican states or Canada will be placed with a family member or in a shelter, while their parents await in detention for prolonged immigration processing. This is despite the fact that, between October and Dec of 2017 , the US regime lost track of 1,500 migrant children it had placed with sponsors in that period – with testify that human trafficking of some of these children had occurred.

At best, the federal government's new policy violates the basic rights of the child and of asylum seekers, and at worst is complicit in what could go systemic human trafficking.

We telephone call on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put child welfare and bones human rights at the eye of US migration policy, to reverse the policy of full prosecution of migrants at the border, and to reverse the policy of removing migrant children from their parents. Nosotros stand in solidarity with our partner organizations across the country who are standing at the frontlines to aid immigrants and refugees assert their man rights.

Interested in providing pro bono assist for immigrants and their families beyond the country? Sign upward for OneJustice's Immigration Pro Bono Network  to receive volunteer opportunities and clearing updates!

April 25, 2018

San Francisco, CA — Speaking today before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Section of Justice will not be moving to suspend the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) and the Immigration Court Helpdesk (ICH) program. This declaration reverses an April tenth announcement from the DOJ'due south Executive Office for Clearing Review that indicated both programs would be suspended while the section conducts a review.

OneJustice applauds this reversal and celebrates that these programs will exist able to once again serve thousands of immigrants and their families beyond the country.

At their core, both programs are designed to ensure greater fairness in the immigration courtroom system. Equally the Vera Institute of Justice describes, "LOP empowers plan participants to stand for themselves if they have a valid merits under existing constabulary or to determine that their best class is to accept displacement." OneJustice previously published a statement condemning the DOJ's move to finish the programs, noting that the move would have a devastating affect on immigrants trying to understand their rights in clearing court.

We would like to give thanks members of Congress and anybody who voiced their support for these vital programs. Today's announcement, nevertheless, does not guarantee the continued existence of either LOP or ICH; rather, it allows the programs to keep during a review by the Section of Justice. Nevertheless, we are optimistic. Julia Wilson, OneJustice CEO, stated, "We are confident that the upcoming review will reflect what past reviews have shown: that LOP and ICH protect due process for immigrants facing deportation, and annually save the federal regime millions of dollars."

OneJustice will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates on deportment affecting the programs.

Interested in providing pro bono assist for immigrants and their families across the country?

Sign upwardly for OneJustice'due south Immigration Pro Bono Network to receive volunteer opportunities and immigration updates!

March 29, 2018

What a wild ride this has been. Concluding calendar week, Congress and the President approved a spending bill that, miraculously, included a $25 million increase in funding for legal aid . We're thrilled that members of Congress have recognized the value of legal services for families in need across the country (specially after President Trump proposed eliminating funding for the Legal Services Corporation entirely ).

But now we need your help to go on the momentum going!

In March, twenty-eight members of the California House delegation signed onto a letter of the alphabet to vocalization their back up for legal aid. Now it'south important that they hear from you , their constituents, to remind them how important this issue is.

Please have two minutes to telephone call your representative to give thanks them for signing onto the Dear Colleague letter both this year and last year. We've provided the following script for you lot to use:

"Hi, my name is [your proper noun] , and I live at [your accost] . I wanted to give thanks Representative _____ for signing the Dear Colleague letter of the alphabet in support of funding for the Legal Services Corporation. It is vital that the government continue to fund legal services for those who demand it virtually."

Below y'all can find a list of all the California representatives who signed the letters. (Not sure who your representative is? Click here to see !)

Adam B. Schiff (D-28th): (202) 225-4176

Alan Lowenthal (D-47th): (202) 225-7924

Ami Bera (D-7th): (202) 225-5716

Anna 1000. Eshoo (D-18th): (202) 225-8104

Barbara Lee (D-13th): (202) 225-2661

Doris Matsui (D-sixth): (202) 225-7163

Jackie Speier (D-14th): (202) 225-3531

Jerry McNerney (D-ninth): (202) 225-1947

Jim Costa (D-16th): (202) 225-3341

Jimmy Gomez (D-34th): (202) 225-6235

Jimmy Panetta (D-20th): (202) 225-2861

Juan Vargas (D-51st): (202) 225-8045

Judy Chu (D-27th): (202) 225-5464

Julia Brownley (D-26th): (202) 225-5811

Karen Bass (D-37th): (202) 225-7084

Linda T. Sánchez (D-38th): (202) 225-6676

Mark DeSaulnier (D-11th): (202) 225-2095

Marking Takano (D-41st): (202) 225-2305

Maxine Waters (D-43rd): (202) 225-2201

Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-44th): (202) 225-8220

Norma J. Torres (D-35th): (202) 225-6161

Ro Khanna (D-17th): (202) 225-2631

Salud Carbajal (D-24th): (202) 225-3601

Steve Knight (R-25th): (202) 225-1956

Susan A. Davis (D-53rd): (202) 225-1956

Ted West. Lieu (D-33rd): (202) 225-3976

Tony Cardenas (D-29th): (202) 225-6131

Zoe Lofgren (D-19th): (202) 225-3072

As you know, LSC funding ensures that depression-income members of our customs can overcome systemic legal barriers to necessities such as housing, nutrient, healthcare, and rubber from violence. Furthermore, it helps fulfill our society's commitment to providing justice to all.

OneJustice staff will be on the ground in Washington D.C. on April 11th and 12th to lobby members of Congress to keep up back up for legal services. Due west e need Congress to know that this is an of import issue , and that adjacent twelvemonth'south budget should increase funding for LSC to $528 one thousand thousand – so that every low-income home in our country that needs legal assist can get it.

Delight phone call today to brand sure our representatives know how of import it is that they keep supporting legal aid!

Stay informed and stand up upwardly to protect civil legal assist in California. Click here to sign up for Californians for Legal Aid to receive advocacy alerts and policy updates about legal assist!

UPDATE on Omnibus Upkeep Neb, Friday March 23, 2018, 9:45 a.m.

The Senate canonical their motion to concur with the House bill H.R. 1625 on Thursday night, voting 65 to 32. Roll call vote is hither. Senators Feinstein and Harris both voted Nay, in function because of the pecker's failure to address immigration relief for Dreamers. Senator Harris shared her thoughts on the nib on Twitter yesterday in this tweet thread. Senator Feinstein tweeted yesterday that she opposed the bill because of its failure to do anything about DACA.

President Trump tweeted at five a.m. PST on Friday morning that he is considering vetoing the pecker – that message is hither. Without a budget bill, the federal government will shutdown at midnight on Friday night.

OneJustice will proceed to monitor the situation and keep you posted.

Our original blog post, and more details on the bill and its impact on legal aid funding, follow below.

———————————————

March 22, 2018

Later months of Congressional jockeying, the House of Representatives today passed a $1.3 trillion compromise spending bill for Fiscal Year 2018. In an encouraging sign for the legal help community, the bill approves a $25 million funding increase for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the federally-controlled nonprofit which provides funding for legal assist organizations across the country.

Additionally, the bill does not weaken or dismantle the Johnson Amendment , equally some had feared. This ensures that nonprofit organizations can keep to fulfill their missions to provide social skilful without existence subject to political pressure level.

Today'southward bill is a far cry from recent upkeep proposals. President Trump called for the consummate elimination of funding for the Legal Services Corporation in the White Business firm upkeep proposal, released in Feb. Similarly, the House itself proposed to cut field grants for LSC nearly 25% last fall.

In a modify of course, the House bill increases overall funding for the Legal Services Corporation by $25 million (from $385 million to $410 million). Specifically, the bill would increase basic field grants past $24 million, to $376 million – pregnant that 96% of the increase would go directly to legal services.

Julia R. Wilson, OneJustice CEO, stated: "We are encouraged by the House's spending bill. Any cuts to the Legal Services Corporation would have a devastating impact on millions of Americans, including the almost 200,000 Californians who rely on legal services. The increase in the bill, instead, recognizes the incredibly positive touch that legal assistance organizations have on communities all effectually the country."

Moreover, this alter in the Business firm appropriation demonstrates that Congressional educational activity efforts, a bipartisan "Dear Colleague" alphabetic character signed by over 180 members of Congress, and the negotiations to increase overall domestic spending have been successful in demonstrating the value of legal services.

While the signs from the House are encouraging, the process is not over. The neb passed the House 256-167, according to CNN , and now proceeds to the Senate. If passed there, the legislation would then need to be signed past President Trump by midnight on Friday, March 23, in order to avoid another government shutdown.

And while the increases seen in this bill are certainly necessary, more than is needed to secure access to civil justice for people in need. The Legal Services Corporation's ain FY 2018 upkeep request provides a roadmap to achieving this – and, at the end of the day, this is the goal we must aim for.

The total text of the bill is available here. News outlets began publishing their analyses of the bill last dark. OneJustice volition continue to monitor the legislative process and provide update and alerts.

Stay informed and stand upward to protect ceremonious legal aid in California. Click hither to sign up for Californians for Legal Aid to receive advocacy alerts and policy updates virtually legal aid!

Feb 2, 2018

San Francisco, CA –Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the Department of Justice has quietly moved to shut downward the Role for Access to Justice . We are deeply disappointed, though non surprised, by this determination, the about contempo in a serial of actions that has revealed this administration's contempt for civil legal aid and dedication to maintaining an diff and unjust status quo.

The Office for Admission to Justice was created in 2010, under Chaser General Eric Holder in response to "the admission-to-justice crisis in the criminal and civil justice system." The office'due south goals included promoting access and eliminating barriers to justice, ensuring fairness for all participants in the legal and judicial process, and increasing efficiency in the justice system. In addition to its substantive accomplishments, which included launching a "federal interagency roundtable" to demonstrate the benefits of legal assistance in various areas of federal policy, the office represented a commitment from the federal government to realizing our shared value of equal justice for all, not just for those who tin afford it.

Approximately v million low-income Californians will face legal problems over the side by side year. Of course, merely lawyers call these "legal bug." For the people involved, they are life bug – which happen to have legal solutions. There's the grandmother who complains about the broken toilet spewing sewage into her apartment – and the landlord serves her with eviction papers rather than fix information technology. Or the immature woman who has left an calumniating relationship and lives in fright of the idea that her abuser might be able to find her at her chore. Or the Vietnam veteran living on the street because he cannot access the benefits or medical care he needs.

Unfortunately, about of these people cannot beget to hire an chaser to get the legal help they demand. They are shut out of the civil justice system – one of the jewels of American republic – but because they cannot afford it.

Legal assist offers hope for filling this gap, and helps ensure a more level playing field in our ceremonious justice arrangement, by providing advice and representation to those who could otherwise not afford it. Legal aid attorneys provide life-changing help to those who demand information technology near – helping the grandmother stay in her home, the young adult female live without fear, the veteran safe and secure.

Over the last twelve months, the Trump assistants has repeatedly moved to undermine this core American value of civil justice past threatening legal assist programs. The Assistants chosen for the consummate elimination of federal funding for ceremonious justice services for low-income Americans. The shuttering of the Office for Admission to Justice is farther abandonment of our shared value and the constitutional promise of equality under police force.

But nosotros know that access to justice is a concept revered by many – on both sides of the aisle and beyond the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Americans understand that having a level playing field in court is not a partisan outcome. With this in mind, nosotros promise that t he OneJustice Network volition never finish working to defend the civil justice system.

You lot tin can have action at present to make your vocalization heard to protect civil legal aid in California.
Click hither to sign up for Californians for Legal Aid to receive advancement alerts and policy updates about legal aid!

November 7, 2017
Post by Julia R. Wilson, CEO

One year ago, I was pathetically naïve.

My selfie on Election Day 2016, trying to repeat the colors worn by suffragists in their fight for women's right to vote.

I picked out a chocolate-brown, pinstriped pantsuit that felt archetype and maybe even (if I squinted at myself in the mirror) a bit timeless. I looked at photographs of my honey grandmother, Daryl Henson, a fiercely independent woman who was born but two years later women secured the right to vote in this country. I found a white scarf in my drawer and idea nearly my older daughter, who would turn xviii on November 8th and would get to vote in her first election on her birthday. I felt electric with the possibilities.

At present one yr later, I can hardly stand to look at the photograph I posted that morning on my personal social media accounts before heading out the door. I think I really somehow feel aback of that photo. It communicates something a fleck besides personal, or too raw, about what I thought was possible.

So on Ballot Twenty-four hour period 2016, I put on my pantsuit and tied my white scarf over my shoulder. I felt buoyant as I went through my commute, smiling at first shyly – so conspiratorially – with the other women in pantsuits in the parking lot and on the BART train. By the time I reached the streets of downtown San Francisco, I was brazenly high- fiving other pantsuited women as we walked past each other on the sidewalk – strangers and yet sisters.

Twelve hours later, I was perched on a stool, watching the TV shows on my computer alone in my darkened house, with my younger daughter asleep in bed.  The pantsuit was crumpled in my hamper. I haven't worn it since. I don't know if I will wear it again.

OneJustice staff at the SFO "pop-up" airport clinic in response to the commencement circular of the Muslim Travel Ban, January & February 2017.

I didn't sleep that night. Effectually 5am, I sent an email to the unabridged OneJustice staff. I contemplated closing the offices for the 24-hour interval, simply that didn't feel correct. I thought that our  squad needed to be together. So I invited everyone to take some fourth dimension and then get together in our briefing rooms in the late morning so that we could first to process what had happened and parse through what information technology might hateful for OneJustice's work.

We went through boxes of tissues that day. Nosotros cried and raged. Nosotros talked about power, privilege, and systemic racism and sexism in our country. We talked nearly the potential affect of the ballot on the communities that invite OneJustice into their fierce struggle for equality and justice. Staff members shared their fears, and we pledged to go on each other prophylactic, no matter what the hereafter might concord.

The LAX airport legal clinic in response to the travel ban (February 2017).

That day is seared in my memory forever.  The election's impact on our work could not have been more stark. In one set of candidates, we had a possible President who had served on the Board of Directors of the federal Legal Services Corporation, and a Vice Presidential candidate who was a civil rights lawyer married to a quondam legal assistance lawyer. On the other side, we had a Presidential candidate who had called for the finish of the DACA program and ruthlessly vilified our communities, and a Vice Presidential candidate who had called for the complete elimination of Legal Services Corporation on three separate occasions during his time in the House. We feared what our community was likely to face nether the new administration.

On November 8, 2016, we actually thought we had a skillful sense of what was likely to come up. Information technology turns out that nosotros accurately predicted some of the components, only nosotros were off in terms of the timing.  We did beginning planning that day and in the following weeks, including how to employ the two California Pro Bono Regional Meetings that took place on either side on the inauguration date.  We tried to forecast different scenarios – the end of DACA, take chances of mass deportations, a Muslim registry, the elimination of federal funding for legal aid – and sketch out loftier-level responses.

Looking back over the past twelvemonth, I realize at present that we could never have truly been ready for what came next.  How could nosotros have imagined the waves of aggressive, discriminatory, and unconstitutional policies from the new administration? A proposed budget from the White Firm with no funding at all for legal services?  The attacks on the core autonomous values we hold so dear: the rule of police, equality and justice for all?

The OneJustice virtual DACA renewal dispensary to bring legal assistance to young adults in Humboldt County in Sept. 2017.

I am then proud of what the OneJustice network has achieved – and withstood – over the last year. The LAX and SFO airdrome clinics in response to the multiple version of the Muslim travel ban.  The expansion of our Immigration Pro Bono Network to stand with immigrant communities as they face rapidly shifting clearing policies, craven deportation reprioritization, and increased Ice raids in Los Angeles.  The renewal of our grassroots network – Californians for Legal Aid – to enhance awareness well-nigh the importance of legal services for Californians in demand. The statewide DACA response sprint to assist young adults in the terrible 4 weeks before the end of the DACA program. The communities with whom nosotros work – and our staff and volunteers – have undertaken astonishing work in heart-breaking circumstances.

The by year has honed the OneJustice team to the sharpest edge. Nosotros accept been buffeted and thrown about, simply we as well grew deeper roots that are now intimately intertwined with the roots of our partner organizations. Frontline collaborations forged in crisis take become lifetime relationships filled with trust and mutuality.  We have highly organized rapid response checklists and planning systems that we continue to hone with each new disaster – whether natural similar the contempo Northern California fires or a human-made disaster, manufactured by the federal administration.

I would never cull to live through the past year over again – not for anything in the world.  I wish very much that our state and communities had never been forced through these experiences. But as nosotros work to brand sense of the past 12 months and to look forward at what we might face up over the next year, there is i affair that I know in my basic.

We are no longer naïve. We have learned our lessons.
This year, we are ready.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And we need You lot more than ever before!  Please take a stand with us and fight for justice for all!

• Sign up for Californians for Legal Help, our grassroots network raising awareness about the importance of legal aid for those in need
• Sign upwardly for the Immigration Pro Bono Response Network to receive news and alerts well-nigh immigration needs in California
• Donate today online to fund the fight in 2018 and beyond – thank you lot!

May 23, 2017

White House Upkeep Would Defund Legal Help for Veterans, Seniors, and Children

Contact:
Julia R. Wilson
(415) 834-0100 x 306
jwilson@1-justice.org

San Francisco, CA (May 23, 2017) – The upkeep proposed today by the Trump Administration would end our land's investment in civil legal aid for the poor, leaving veterans, seniors, and families suffering from solvable legal bug. The White House's full budget for fiscal year 2018 would provide funding only to back up the shutdown of the Legal Services Corporation, which funds ceremonious legal aid for the poor in all 50 states. The Trump Assistants'south budget also proposes to eliminate to a federal loan forgiveness program that allows attorneys to choose lives of public service.

"If adopted, this budget would finer nullify a cornerstone of equal justice in America," said Julia Wilson, CEO of OneJustice and staff to Californians for Legal Aid. "Our entire legal system would become unaffordable for depression-income veterans, seniors, families, and children. Fortunately, Congress has consistently shown potent, bipartisan support for funding the Legal Services Corporation, understanding that civil legal assist is critically important to ensuring our nation's core values of fairness, justice, and the rule of law."

The White Firm released its budget proposal today. The call to terminate funding for legal aid is on page 98, and the public service loan forgiveness program is on page 129. Both programs ensure that nearly 20% of the U.S. population (over 60 million people) has a level playing field in our court system, even though they cannot afford a lawyer.

"As nosotros continue to make the case for increased funding for legal assist in fiscal year 2018, we are heartened by demonstrated bipartisan Congressional support, as well every bit the back up of leaders in the business and legal communities who have joined the fight. Over 150 heads of U.South. constabulary firms and general counsel from nigh 200 companies signed messages stating their support for federal legal aid funding. State Supreme Court Justices, Attorneys General, police force school deans, and other civil society leaders have as well reinforced the telephone call to continue federal funding for civil legal services."

Access to our civil justice arrangement is not a luxury. Rather, as U.Southward. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said about the Legal Services Corporation merely three years agone, "this arrangement pursues the most cardinal of American ideals, and it pursues equal justice in those areas of life most of import to the lives of our citizens."

Background on federal funding for civil legal aid for depression-income Californians

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 in recognition that the ability to seek justice through the law—regardless of income level—is cardinal to the fairness of our society. LSC promotes equal access to justice by providing funding to 133 independent nonprofit legal aid organizations throughout the country – including eleven nonprofits in California.

The federal government is the largest funder for legal aid in California; the Legal Services Corporation provides over $44 million per year to fund services for low-income Californians. Over 200,000 Californians access this legal assist each twelvemonth. Cutting funding would especially harm California's rural communities. If rural programs have to close offices, then those Californians will accept nowhere else to go.

Legal assist services prevent homelessness, hunger, domestic violence, elder corruption, and death due to inadequate access to health care. Legal aid programs aid the most economically disadvantaged members of our community. They protect the everyman-income veterans, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and victims of natural disasters.

Background on loan forgiveness for the attorneys who cull lives of public service

Cutting funding for legal aid volition eliminate positions at legal aid programs. Catastrophe the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program will make the few remaining positions unaffordable. Public service loan forgiveness provides attorneys a disquisitional incentive to take a job in legal aid by forgiving the remaining residuum on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working total-time for a qualifying employer. This program is the just reason many attorneys who accept loftier student debt from college and law school can afford to take positions at civil legal aid nonprofits.

###

Californians for Legal Help is a various coalition of Californians who believe deeply in justice for all. OneJustice is a statewide nonprofit that brings life-changing legal help to those in need by transforming the civil legal aid delivery system.

The earth turned upside down

It'due south not like shooting fish in a barrel to write this web log postal service today.

But nothing feels like shooting fish in a barrel today, right?  Nosotros're all worried.

How do we keep each other safe?  What about the communities already targeted during the campaign? How do we preserve the dominion of law and due process, the central components of our collective fight for justice?

Yesterday morning, I think we all woke up stunned.  Here at OneJustice, we wept and hugged and raged.  I think nosotros went through ten boxes of tissues.

And then today?

Well, today volunteer attorneys boarded the Justice Omnibus and headed out to an isolated community to provide free clearing services.  Because that is what nosotros do.  We persevere.  We fight for justice.  We empower.  We serve.

Now, brand no mistake – our work is just beginning.  And it won't exist piece of cake:

• The President Elect has stated that on his first day in office he will abolish the executive action that created the Deferred Action for Babyhood Inflow (DACA) plan for young immigrants. The bear on of these words was firsthand – striking fear into the hearts of immature immigrants in this state and changing the advice legal aid and volunteer attorneys must now provide.

• And now we've learned that in late 2005, then-Representative Mike Pence co-authored a budget report calling for the complete emptying of federal funding for ceremonious legal aid.  So I call back we know what to expect from this administration.

So the battle lines are being drawn.  We can start to meet the shape of the fights to come.

Now, more than ever, we need each other.

Our community – this brave, bold, fierce, committed justice community – is what brings me hope.  What inspires u.s. to move forward.  Together we will ascent up, stand upwards – and it matters.

OneJustice is all in. We are in this for you.  For our clients.  For our volunteers. For our commonwealth.  For justice.

And today, more than ever, we demand y'all.  Our very system of ceremonious justice needs you.

Your partnership and your fiscal support – right at present – can make all the difference.

Together, we can practice this. Thanks for your fierce commitment to preserving civil legal assist and justice for all.

In solidarity,

Julia R. Wilson
CEO

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Source: https://onejustice.org/category/public-policy-advocacy/

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