Our work starts at home
From the beginning, we knew the power of combining legal advocacy with community empowerment to deliver change.
When we set up practice in a small storefront in Oakland, our staff consisted of one attorney and a handful of dedicated community activists and law clerks. As our movements for justice grew, our team also grew.
Today, our community advocates work directly with families and residents in the Bay Area and across the state. We distribute know-your-rights materials in dozens of languages, forge relationships with partner organizations to build shared power, and engage in coalitions that sustain social movement infrastructure and strength. Across our issue areas, we also build and center the leadership of directly impacted community members. Through our Yuri Kochiyama fellowship, for example, formerly incarcerated community members work with organizations, lawmakers and communities to advance and implement legislation at the intersection of criminal justice and immigrant enforcement systems.
When the needs of immigrants, refugees, their families, and communities are put first, our movements win. Through our work with community, we have helped workers win back stolen wages, led successful campaigns to reduce mass incarceration and free refugees from state prison, increased access to translated materials for immigrant voters, and helped reunite families who were separated because of the Muslim Ban and other policies targeting Muslim communities.
Kay Kang on SB 202: 'It’s a bad situation, the law makes it so much harder for people to participate in elections.'
As Advancing Justice’s lawsuit against the restrictive, anti-voting rights bill SB 202 continues, communities in Georgia are coming together to defend their right to vote in the face of the additional barriers it has created.
Learn more‘Equality requires acknowledgement of inequality.’
The Supreme Court struck down Harvard’s and UNC’s race-conscious admissions policies, turning away from long-standing precedent and denying the reality we all live in.
Learn moreCommunity Education Resources: Immigrant Rights
Learn about your rights and options in the event of interactions with immigration enforcement, transfers from jail or prison, and deportation orders.
Learn moreNews & Recent Cases
Learn more about our work in community movement building and advocacy.
Judge: CA Prison System Can’t Evade Accountability; Illegal Discrimination Lawsuit Moves Forward
November 21, 2023
ALC Joins Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza and Commits to Protecting the Rights of Our Communities
October 31, 2023
Know Your Rights for Community Members Addressing Islamophobia and Attacks on Free Speech
October 31, 2023