We are pleased to share our 2025 Fall Newsletter, in which we share the story of our client Ramiro* and the ways that we continue to stand with our clients during the current unprecedented attacks on immigrants’ rights. Read here: firrp.org/news-events/...

On graduation day, ICE deported two Louisiana high school students with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), a visa granted to immigrant children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent.

This Dia de Los Muertos, we remember and honor the lives lost in immigration detention. There have been at least 25 deaths in ICE custody since the Trump administration took office, a record number of deaths within a calendar year since 2006. This is the deadliest year in ICE custody in decades.

Every Dia de Los Muertos, Florence Project social workers organize an Ofrenda in our Phoenix and Tucson offices. This year, our staff gathered to honor clients and people detained who have passed while in immigration detention, and a beloved colleague who we lost in 2024.

Congrats to our client, Dominic* for becoming a legal permanent resident! At just six years old, Dominic was selling tortillas and art he made on the streets of Honduras to survive. Abandoned by his parents and raised in an abusive home, he was forced to drop out of school in second grade.

Florence Project staff recently attended a training from the National Compadres Network titled “Remaining Grounded/ Rooted in Who We Are.” It was a beautiful opportunity to gather as a team, in community, and connect with each other and our roots.

ICE detention centers are becoming dangerously hot. A new @washingtonpost.com analysis found that people held in ICE facilities face far greater exposure to extreme heat than those in other prisons, with some centers enduring three months of unsafe temperatures.

Thank you to everyone who has generously donated their time and talents to support our mission and vision. Your contributions make a lasting impact on the lives of our clients, and we truly couldn’t do this work without support of our community.

This week is #NationalProBonoWeek, and we are celebrating the tremendous people who embodied hope in action and stood with our clients in 2025! Last year, with your support and in partnership with our pro bono attorneys and volunteers, we served over 15,000 people.

As #LatineHeritageMonth comes to a close, we honor our Latine staff, supporters, and clients who are so much more than their legal cases or immigration statuses. They are culture, resilience, art, talent, hopes, and dreams.

Our 2024 Annual Report is now available on our website! And we are proud to share last year’s service figures. These figures capture the incredible impact our teams make, and the immense challenges we face, to achieve justice for our clients and all immigrants.

We are deeply alarmed by reports that the government is rolling out a plan to attempt to incentivize unaccompanied children to waive their rights under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and accept "voluntary" return to their country of origin in exchange for $2500.

On Sept. 25, a federal judge in Arizona granted a preliminary injunction protecting 69 unaccompanied immigrant children from Guatemala and Honduras in government custody in Arizona from being summarily repatriated from the U.S. without having the chance to present their case to an immigration judge.

Save the date to join us virtually! We will honor and celebrate the pro bono attorneys and volunteers who embodied hope in action for our clients and our mission in 2024-2025. We will be streaming the event live on Facebook and hope you can join us virtually!

As we reflect on all that your support made possible in 2024, we do so amid a campaign of dehumanization targeting immigrant communities and a dismantling of protections that safeguard immigrants’ rights. In this moment, we may be overwhelmed and feel despair and powerlessness. But no one is alone.

Laura St. John, Legal Director of the Florence Project, spoke to the @nytimes.com about the mental health toll on detained immigrants and lack of attention to mental health in facilities across the U.S. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/h...

“They Didn’t Let Me Say Bye” is the latest report from the Kino Border Initiative, revealing the human impact of deportations to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico between May and July 2025. www.kinoborderinitiative.org/wp-content/u...

ICYMI: Recent media ft. the Florence Project’s advocacy responding to the Trump admin’s attempt to illegally remove our child clients to Guatemala despite fear of being returned and in violation of their rights. Your support makes this advocacy possible. www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

As we kick off #LatineHeritageMonth, we honor our resilient clients, dedicated Latine staff, and generous supporters. 💛 At the Florence Project, we recognize and value Latine culture and heritage year-round.

The Florence Project and Kino Border Initiative were invited to speak to a Senate staff delegation at the U.S.-Mexico border recently. The delegation consisted of staff from the offices of Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, alongside ten other offices.

Good news! A federal judge has extended a temporary restraining order that blocks the removal of unaccompanied children from Guatemala and Honduras who are currently in immigration shelters in Arizona.

ICE is detaining more people than ever before, according to new analysis by @vera.org: 1️⃣ 59,000+ detained in a single day — a record high 2️⃣ 59 new ICE facilities and 77 reopened ones 3️⃣ Thousands denied access to lawyers, fair hearings, left in inhumane conditions 4️⃣ Detaining families again

Right now, thousands of people in our communities face: ▪️ Arrests at routine ICE check-ins and court hearings ▪️ Inhumane detention with little to no access to lawyers ▪️ Separation from their families and communities ▪️ Fast-tracked deportations and unjust case dismissals

Late Saturday night, with little to no notice, the US government sent private transportation contractors to shelters housing unaccompanied immigrant children with the intent to take away and illegally repatriate our child clients to Guatemala against their wishes.

www.cnn.com/2025/08/29/p... We are deeply concerned by the Trump administration’s escalated targeting of unaccompanied immigrant children. Children seeking protection in the U.S. have rights, and this process violates those rights. We call on the Trump administration to abandon this plan now.

Congratulations to our client Julia* on winning asylum! After a harrowing journey from Venezuela and five months in immigration detention, Julia finally feels like she can be well. She can finally “eat and sleep, just live like a normal person,” she says.

August is Make-A-Will Month, a time to reflect on the future and the values we share. By including the Florence Project in your will, you plan for the future while also ensuring that immigrants have access to critical services and advocacy for years to come!

A new investigation led by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon reveals that LGBTQIA+ youth in residential treatment facilities (RTFs) often face extreme isolation, abuse, and discrimination rooted in their identities. 🧵

This #WorldHumanitarianDay, we want to shine a light on the incredible work of our partners, Kino Border Initiative 💛 At their Migrant Resource Center in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, KBI provided an incredible 131,496 meals to migrants in 2024 per their annual report.

NEXT WEDNESDAY! REGISTER HERE: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Senator Mark Kelly and Representative Greg Stanton visited Eloy Detention Center last week becoming the latest members of Congress to perform oversight at the facility. @azcentral.com www.azcentral.com/story/news/p...

On August 16th, the Arizona Border Communities Coalition invites you to celebrate our shared communities through a binational Friends Across Borders event. We hope to see you there!

Join the Florence Project for our next CLE, “T Nonimmigrant Status: A Relief for Survivors of Human Trafficking.” 📅 Weds, August 20 ⏰ 12 PM 📍 Zoom 🔗 us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... 💻 CLE presented by Florence Project Children’s Program Managing Attorney and seasoned advocate Tracy Kallassy.

In November 2023, we sat with best-selling author, Javier Zamora, for a moving discussion about his memoir SOLITO. Javier shared about the deep trauma he lives with since traveling to the U.S. as a nine-year-old child and how the hope of seeing his parents again propelled him through his journey.🧵

“Members of Congress just sued the Trump administration for unlawfully blocking oversight of ICE detention facilities — even as more than 58,000 people are held in conditions with rising reports of abuse and 11 deaths in custody."

On the 4th of July, President Trump signed into a law a bill that will redirect billions of dollars from social services programs that benefit us all to immigration enforcement agencies that will separate families, detain and deport our neighbors, and harm our communities.

Please join us for our next CLE this Friday, July 11, from 12 pm to 1:30pm. Florence Project Appellate Attorneys Liz Bradley and Kari Hong will share their knowledge and legal experience during this 90-minute seminar. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

BREAKING NEWS! And a win for asylum seekers: A federal court has blocked Trump administration efforts to completely shut down asylum at the border. 🧵

We must speak up and tell our Senators and Representative Juan Ciscomani to oppose the Reconciliation Bill because supercharging deportations, paid for by cutting health care for families, is unacceptable! 🧵

📢 Tell Congress: NO on the budget bill. youthlaw.org/voteno

We must speak up and tell our Senators and Representative Juan Ciscomani to oppose the Reconciliation Bill because supercharging deportations, paid for by cutting health care for families, is unacceptable! 🧵

The Senate’s budget reconciliation bill would put detained immigrant children in grave danger – eliminating pathways to protection, heightening their risk of trafficking, exploitation, abuse, and authorizing the indefinite incarceration of families in unlicensed ICE family detention centers.

Did you enter the U.S. via CBP One appointment? Swipe through to know your rights. (1/2)

In times of division and uncertainty, we can create change. One act of welcome, one open door, one kind word. That’s how safe, and inclusive communities begin. 🤝Take the #WeWillWelcome pledge to build a world where everyone feels like they belong: bit.ly/WelcomingPle... #WorldRefugeeDay

This Juneteenth, we invite you to reflect on both a pivotal moment in our nation’s history and the ongoing journey toward racial justice and equity. On June 19, 1865, the last enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, were finally informed of their freedom. 🧵

The Department of Homeland Security is promoting a self-deportation program with promises of cash, free flights, and future legal return — but these claims are deeply misleading and not backed by immigration law. @themarshallproject.org

Three months ago, the Trump administration disappeared 288 men to El Salvador’s abusive CECOT mega-prison, tearing them from their communities without due process. Their families will spend this Father’s Day without their dads, sons, and partners, unsure if they will ever see them again.

Amid everything that’s happening right now – ICE raids devastating our communities, the targeting of immigrant children, and efforts to dismantle legal services – your voice and action matter more than ever.

June is Immigrant Heritage Month — a time to honor the journeys, cultures, and contributions of immigrants who shape the heart of our communities. 🧵

📣 Join us this Thursday, June 12 at 10AM PT/ 11AM MT/ 1PM ET for a powerful conversation with Their Story is Our Story, an organization amplifying the voices of refugees and allies. tsosrefugees.org