Currently, our major initiatives include: 

• Detention Funds and Support – we have set up a commissary fund and accompanying  system to get funds as fast as possible to people who have been taken and shipped to detention centers around the country, enabling them to  keep in touch with their loved ones. In addition, we reach out to networks across the country to make every effort to get visitors in to see people taken and sent to detention centers. Since May we have been supporting over 200 asylum seeking neighbors that have been detained by ICE by providing commissary funds, filing motions, and supporting their relatives and children.

• Court Accompaniment – we offer presence at immigration courts and Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) offices across the boroughs. To date, we have successfully safely escorted over 700  neighbors out of court. 

• Legal Referrals and Pro Se Support – we connect people with legal representation both in NYC and when needed, we tap into networks throughout the country to try and connect folks who have been kidnapped to a different state with legal representation there.

• Case Work – our team meets with a wide range of people on a weekly basis to help them sort through their situation and the decisions they face–whether preparing for court dates, planning guardianship, or making decisions about next steps in the process.

• Mental Health – to address the trauma children, youth, and all neighbors experience at courts we offer support to them or connect them to mental health providers who offer free of cost service. We also provide support to children, youth and all neighbors who have been deported.

• Queer Community – we support our queer community with their unique needs including legal, medical and mental health. 

• Advocacy for Release – we recently collaborated in securing the release of Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema (see story here). Mi Tlalli brought her case to Make the Road lawyers and requested that they work on her legal case; in the meantime, Mi Tlalli organized demonstrations, got press for the case and then, when she was released, the Mi Tlalli team used our network to secure Joselyn a bus ticket back to NYC; arranged for her to get from the detention center to the bus station; found someone to meet her in Atlanta during a break in her 32 hour bus ride back to NYC, and then to be reunited with her family. It is this integrated, holistic approach that defines Mi Tlalli’s work.