On January 28, 2017, hundreds of lawyers descended on JFK Airport to help those caught in the Muslim Travel Ban. Three weeks later, we met in a law firm conference room, scared by the recent and upcoming developments, but energized by what we had accomplished by working together. Out of that meeting, the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative, or I-ARC, was born. Our mission is clear: to mobilize New York?s legal representatives to better serve our communities, to organize our resources and strategies because we are stronger when we work together, and to resist anti-immigrant policies by shining a light on injustices and confronting inequalities faced by our communities in the legal system.

We went from a volunteer-run project to a standalone non-profit, ready to dedicate our resources to fighting for immigrant access to justice. It's been a long, busy five years since those early days running a law office out of an airport diner. But with your support, we are capable of so much more. I-ARC is a first-of-its-kind, New York-based immigration law training and policy institute that supports immigration lawyers across the state, ensures communities have access to legal help when needed, and educates the public on the real-life impact of immigration laws and policies on New York State and the country. We can't wait to show you what more we're capable of!