On June 24 at the Cabrillo Pavilion, the Immigrant Legal Defense Center (ILDC) held its annual Toast to Justice event, which raised roughly $100,000 in much-needed funding for its incredibly beneficial legal representation, counseling, and other programs.
After the reception hour, complete with taco bar and drinks, Board Chair Victoria Greene welcomed guests to the Stories of Hope–themed event. Calling the past 18 months “beyond horrible,” Greene pointed to ICE raids kidnapping community members and arrests being made at ICE check-ins and at jails.
She expressed gratitude for the capacity building that the ILDC has achieved over the past eight years and lauded staff for its nimbleness in adapting to the government’s nonstop changes in rules and practices. Greene praised also the ILDC’s trauma-informed counseling program, in which case managers and therapists provide essential support for youth and families.
She pointed to ILDC’s success in habeas corpus cases, securing the freedom for those in detention facilities by filing actions in federal court; and in obtaining Special Juvenile Immigrant Status for youth, enabling youth to remain in the country and on a path to legal permanent residency.
Executive Director Julissa Peña’s remarks captured the plight of migrants and the insanity of the ICE crackdown. ILDC clients, Peña shared, are parents walking thousands of miles to protect their children from violence, adults who have spent decades building lives here, and youth who know no other home. Our neighbors are being detained for months in inhumane conditions, Peña continued, with due process considered optional.
Returning to the event’s theme, Peña explained that it is hope, in part, that motivates her staff to take action, refusing to accept family separation as normal. In the past year, Peña noted, the ILDC has represented more than 500 people facing deportation, responding to hundreds of emergency cases, winning six federal habeas corpus cases (now eight), and helping youth obtain lawful permanent residency.
In addition to critical legal services, in the past year, the ILDC has provided thousands of counseling and case management sessions, helping families heal from trauma.
Peña extolled her team for being innovative and relentless, refusing to accept that any family is beyond its reach. Neither the legal team nor the mental health team says “that’s not our case.” The teams work side by side “because human beings do not experience legal problems separately from emotional ones.”
The program also included four client stories beautifully presented by UCSB theatre students Ángel Miguel Lopez and Luna Aguilar.
Of the more than 500 individuals the ILDC has represented in the Tri-Counties in the past year, roughly 375 were in Santa Barbara County, and of those, 281 were unaccompanied minors. The ILDC has provided all 375 with case management and/or counseling services. Unfortunately, the demand for services exceeds the ILDC’s capacity, resulting in a current waitlist of 147 people seeking representation. As talented and dedicated as the ILDC team is, the staff of 24, including eight attorneys, three counselors, and five case managers, can handle only so many cases.
The ILDC began habeas corpus representation this year, filing 11 cases in federal court, and has won eight, securing precious freedom for those unlawfully detained. The other three are pending, and 19 people in detention are waitlisted for representation. The ILDC pivoted away from immigration court to federal habeas corpus representation because immigration courts were denying bonds to those who entered without inspection. The issue is the subject of a case now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ILDC has taken on more than 300 Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases and secured status with a pathway to permanent residency for 200 of them. The remaining cases are pending.
Its asylum cases have become increasingly challenging because of the government’s efforts to remove applicants to third countries. While the ILDC has not secured asylum, it has prevented third country removals. In the present environment, this is a victory. With asylum hearings being scheduled for 2028 or 2029, the ILDC’s strategy is to seek additional time for clients to pursue their cases under a future administration.
The nonprofit receives just over half of its funding from government sources, mainly the state, with smaller grants from the County and City of Santa Barbara. State funding is typically granted for only one year at a time and is subject to annual budget negotiations. This makes staffing and programming quite challenging and makes attracting other funding essential.
With ICE raids showing no signs of letting up, a long waitlist of individuals seeking representation, and recent cuts in Medi-Cal coverage for immigrant adults causing increased financial strain on these households, the ILDC needs community support. As Peña shared with guests, “Every victory we celebrate is possible because this community chose not to look away.” The community “chose to invest in people. And in moments like this, that matters more than ever.”
For more info or to make a donation, go to https://sbimmigrantdefense.org.
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