Immigration Equality

Immigration Equality envisions a future where LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants are celebrated for making our country stronger. We are committed to transforming our country into a place where they enjoy safe haven from persecution, freedom to live openly as their full selves, and equality for themselves and their families.

We protect and advocate for LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants and families in the following ways:

Direct Legal Services: The biggest factor in whether someone wins asylum is whether they have high-quality legal representation. For that reason, Immigration Equality provides free legal services to LGBTQ and HIV-positive asylum seekers.

Policy Advocacy: We work in coalitions to advance bills that serve our clients, and educate policymakers on the particular dangers that queer, trans, and HIV-positive individuals face. Our client-advocates frequently share their powerful personal stories before members of Congress to drive home the real-world impact of laws and policies.

Impact Litigation: We seek to change discriminatory policies affecting LGBTQ and HIV-positive people. We sued the U.S. State Department on behalf of four same-sex couples—including two bi-national couples—whose children were denied U.S. citizenship from birth. Through these cases, we aim to change an unlawful and unconstitutional U.S. State Department policy that discriminates against queer families.

Each year, we connect over 600 individuals with pro bono attorneys, and our staff trains and works with those lawyers to help their clients. Our in-house attorneys and large pro-bono network have won asylum for over 1,200 individuals. Asylum seekers can call our attorneys directly to get legal advice, resources, or obtain representation. Each month, we receive over 400 calls from people in detention, and the need continues to grow.

As the nation’s leading LGBTQ immigrant rights organization, we are uniquely positioned to empower this community to create the social change they deserve. From our deep well of clients, we find the activists and agitators to demand that people in power protect and defend human rights. We work with fellow nonprofits, members of Congress, and government agencies to ensure the lived experiences of our clients inspire and inform policies that advance their rights. When the government fails to treat our community equally, we challenge the administration in court, using our legal expertise to win sweeping change for queer, transgender, and HIV-positive immigrants and families.

Over the past 25 years, our legal team has won asylum for more than 1,100 LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants, all the while maintaining a 99% success rate. Each year, we answer more than 3,500 calls on our legal help hotline and represent more than 600 individual litigants on average. As the political landscape and needs of our communities have changed, we’ve been nimble and quick to adapt to better serve our clients. In 2019, we launched a toll-free detention hotline, and in just 5 months, we received over 1,500 calls from detained individuals seeking help with their cases. For the vast majority of these callers, we provided free advice and supportive documents so they could successfully represent themselves before an immigration judge.

With more than 620 current clients, our caseload is at a near-high in our 25-year history. Right now, we’re helping as many people who make it through the border barricade as we can. Each LGBTQ refugee who is granted asylum through our free legal services is given the hope to live as their true self in safety and freedom. At the same time, we partner with pro bono counsel to bring high-profile cases against harmful administration policies. We currently have four open cases against the U.S. State Department on behalf of same-sex couples whose children have been denied citizenship, which we will champion until we change the government’s discriminatory policy.

The need for Immigration Equality’s legal expertise is consistently high, particularly when the Trump administration routinely rolls out anti-immigrant policies. We are uniquely positioned to defend and advance the rights of our community. Time and time again, we demonstrate that a small team of dedicated people can create positive changes for individuals, for families, and for the entire LGBTQ community. Looking ahead to the next 25 years, Immigration Equality will continue to give hope to those who most need it.