Arizona and National Immigration Crisis: Individuals & Organizations

Founded in 1959, the ACLU of Arizona was formed by a small group of civil libertarians who wanted an institution that would defend liberty in the state. They believed that the preservation of liberty required a vigilant defense of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Arizona is responsible for public education programs and litigation in defense of civil liberties.

The ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, founded 75 years ago, fights for individual rights and fundamental freedoms for all through education, litigation, and policy advocacy.

The ACLU–NM Regional Center for Border Rights (RCBR) addresses civil and human rights violations that stem from border-related immigration policies. The center works in conjunction with ACLU affiliates in California, Arizona and Texas and immigrant rights advocates throughout the border region.

Site no longer maintained. Link goes to Internet Archive's last version of the site.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Our work is based on the principles of the Religious Society of Friends, the belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Their work is based on the principles of the Religious Society of Friends, the belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

Angeles del Desierto is a volunteer group that does search and rescue operations in the desert and mounaneous regions of the border between the United States and Mexico. They aid search and rescue events, provide food, water, clothing and first aid emergency aid to people found in these extreme conditions until they can be taken to a place where they can further assistance.

The mission of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration is to engage African Americans and other communities in a dialogue that leads to actions that challenge U.S. immigration policy and the underlying issues of race, racism and economic inequity that frame it.

Border Action Network formed in 1999 and works with immigrant and border communities in Arizona to ensure that our rights are respected, our human dignity upheld and that our communities are healthy places to live.

The Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organizations in the United States. Based in El Paso, Texas, the BNHR has a membership of more than 700 families, or close to 4,000 individuals, in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. It also helps organize other civic-minded groups along the border and is the force behind the Texas-wide Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance.

BorderLinks is a nonprofit educational organization based in Tucson, Arizona that connects people to the reality of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands and immigrant communities in the United States.

The Florence Project provides and coordinates free legal services and related social services to indigent men, women, and unaccompanied children detained in Arizona for immigration removal proceedings.

Frontera de Cristo is one of the six Presbyterian Border Ministries of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico and the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Frontera de Cristo is centered in Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona.

The Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), formerly an initiative of the New York State Defenders Association, defends the legal, constitutional and human rights of immigrants facing criminal or deportation charges.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national non-profit resource center that provides legal trainings, educational materials, and advocacy to advance immigrant rights.

The Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County (ICWJ) is a membership organization, established in 1998, to bring the power and energy of the faith community's moral authority to local struggles for worker justice. ICWJ represents clergy, synagogues, churches, mosques, faith and justice organizations, and many people of faith in the San Diego region who feel called by their respective religious traditions to work for justice and stand up for the poor and marginalized.

The IIC is a partnership of faith-based organizations committed to enacting fair and human immigration reform.

The Kino Border Initiative "is an innovative and cooperative effort between six major religious organizations that strive to accompany migrants and communities affected by the consequences of migration. The KBI is strategically located in the twin cities of Ambos Nogales.

ounded in 1968, MALDEF is a national Latino legal civil rights organization. MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access.

Founded in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center has been dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of low-income immigrants and their family members.

In 2004, No More Deaths began as an interfaith coalition between many groups and organizations providing different kinds of assistance to migrants. Today, No More Deaths is a ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson.

In 1991, the United Farm Workers of America, Texas Rural Legal Aid, and the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service came together and organized Proyecto Azteca to respond to the housing crisis in South Texas colonias located in Hidalgo County. Today, Proyecto Azteca is a nationally recognized, community directed, self-help housing organization that has financed and trained more than 600 families in the construction and first time homeownership in over 50 Hidalgo County colonias.

Pueblos Hermanos (PH) is a partnership of Mexican and U.S. Presbyterians. (Site in Spanish)

Beginning in 2007, community, faith, labor, and legal organizations have come together as the Immigrant Rights Consortium. Through the Consortium, these organizations are pursuing four common goals: (1)Support comprehensive immigration reform; (2) Stop the spread of local policies and practices that target and violate the civil and human rights of immigrants; (3) Educate immigrants about their rights; and (4) Educate the public about the important contributions of immigrants.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido was founded in 1995 to protect and expand immigrants’ rights in New Mexico. With a membership base of over 1,800 people, it is unique to the state—the only community-based and immigrant-led organization actively committed to preparing immigrant leaders to promote worker and racial justice.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to the residents of Southwest Texas who are unable to afford the fees of attorneys in private practice. In eight of the counties, TRLA also provides representation in criminal cases through its Public Defender Division. TRLA also serves migrant and seasonal farm workers throughout the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Tohono O'odham Nation is a federally-recognized tribe that includes approximately 28,000 members occupying tribal lands in Southwestern Arizona. The Nation is the second largest reservations in Arizona in both population and geographical size, with a land base of 2.8 million acres and 4,460 square miles, approx. the size of the State of Connecticut. Its four non-contiguous segments total more than 2.8 million acres at an elevation of 2,674 feet. There are also O'odham who live in Mexico.

Secretary of State for the state of Kansas. Helped draft the Arizona law.
Op Eds: New York Times (April 28, 2010), Los Angeles Times (May 13, 2010),
Profiles: Diverse Issues in Higher Education (May 3, 2010), Arizona Republic (May 31, 2010).

Arizona state senator, Republican. Profile by Kerry Howley in Reason magazine (October 2008).

Maricopy County Sheriff. The link above takes you to another box on this guide that includes multiple links to Web sites, news and profile articles.

U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Arizona since 2000. Nominated by Pres. Clinton, recommended by U.S. Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona. Education: University of Iowa, B.A., 1973 & University of Iowa College of Law, J.D., 1975.

Prior to her succession to Governor in Jan. 2009, she served as Arizona Secretary of State, as Maricopa County Supervisor, and as a member of both houses of the state legislature.

Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice. Law school: University of Virginia, J.D. A short article about Mr. Kneedler appeared in the Washington Post (July 31, 2010).

Previously Co-Director, Immigrant Defense Project

Founder & Senior Counsel, Immigrant Defense Project

Professor of Asian American Studies and Law Professor Emeritus, UC Davis. General Counsel and Board Member of Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Executive Director, Immigration Legal Resource Center.

Director of Immigration Policy at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Previous Executive Director, Border Action Network

Previous Policy Director, Border Action Network

Bishop of Tucson, Arizona.

Previous Mayor of Phoenix

Previous Mayor of Tucson.

Chief of Police, City of Tucson, Arizona.

Public Safety Manager, Phoenix Police Department (2004 to 2011). Retired in April 2011.

Chief of Police, Los Angeles Police Department.

Director of Immigrant Rights, America Friends Service Committee.

Executive Director, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project - Florence, Eloy, and Phoenix, AZ.