Know your rights: An immigration resource guide for L.A.

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11 hours ago

Organizations across Los Angeles County are available to help immigrants and allies in the community.
Ongoing 'know your rights' resources
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrant rights in Los Angeles County and throughout the nation. It holds in-person and virtual weekly workshops. For more information, visit the organization's website or call [phone].
Long Beach Forward is a local nonprofit organization that offers community outreach sessions and educational workshops. You can learn about the next session by checking the organization's calendar, calling [phone] or following its Instagram account.
The East Los Angeles Occupational Center has prerecorded immigration rights and resources webinars on its website from Los Angeles Unified School District officials. The recordings are in English and in Spanish.
RepresentLA is a public-private partnership that provides legal representation to immigrants in custody or in the community, as well as those who face deportation or are seeking relief. The organization hosts an immigrant workshop on the last Wednesday of every month from noon to 2 p.m. at the South Whittier Community Resource Center, 10750 Laurel Ave.
The workshop covers topics such as avoiding scams, understanding your rights in immigration court and determining eligibility for family-based immigration and citizenship.
The L.A. County Office of Immigrant Affairs has an online calendar of 'know your rights' and legal assistance workshops. The office's website also serves as a hub of information and immigration resources.
Catholic Charities of Los Angeles conducts regular workshops as well as informational sessions on citizenship and applications related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The organization has an online calendar that lists its monthly events.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez's office is collaborating with Mijente, CHIRLA, the Central American Resource Center and other advocacy groups to facilitate regular training as well as provide free red resource cards at local field offices. The office has partnered with Mijente and deployed a community defense organizer to train local leaders and build rapid response networks specifically in Council District 1.
You can reach the council member's City Hall office at [phone], the Glassell Park field office at [phone], or the Westlake district office at [phone].
Children's Institute has an in-person 'Keeping Our Communities Safe' workshop in English and Spanish every Thursday from 3 to 5:30 p.m. During the sessions, the staff reviews constitutional rights, how to identify different law enforcement agencies and how to respond safely during different types of encounters with these agencies. The institute is at 2121 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.
Rapid response contact information
You can call your local rapid response network to report ICE activity and enforcement actions. Participating organizations document immigration enforcement and can send trained individuals to assist anyone who is being stopped or questioned by agents.
These networks can also provide you were referrals, information, resources (such as food and financial assistance) and, in some cases, direct support if your loved one was detained by immigration enforcement agents.
Here is a list of local rapid response contacts compiled by the ACLU of Southern California and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice.
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights: [phone]
Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network: [phone]
Promesa Boyle Heights: [phone]
ORALE (Long Beach): [phone]
Long Beach Community Defense Network: [phone]
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice: [phone]
Southern California Bilingual Rapid Response Legal Resource Hotline: [phone]
Available legal representation
There are several organizations and law offices who are offering their services, in some case at a low-cost, to those affected by immigration enforcement operations.
Your options for legal help include:
Immigrant Defenders Law Center, [phone]
Public Counsel, [phone]
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, [phone]
Lalama Immigration Law, [phone]
Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, [phone]
Immigration Center for Women and Children (L.A. office), [phone]
El Rescate, [phone]
Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles, [phone]
USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, [phone]
International Institute of Los Angeles, [phone]
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, [phone]
You can also search for an immigration lawyer through the American Immigration Lawyers Association online locator tool.
How to spot a fake immigration attorney:
Scammers try to confuse immigrants into thinking they're an attorney by calling themselves a notario, notary public, accountant or consultant, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
In Latin American countries, a notario or notary public is an attorney or has legal training, but that's not the case in the United States.
How to protect yourself from the scam:
Do not hire an immigration consultant or a notary. Only lawyers, accredited representatives and recognized organizations can give you legal advice or represent you in immigration court. Immigration consultants — who may call themselves immigration experts, notarios, notaries public or paralegals — cannot do so, according to California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta's office.
Do not give your original important documents to anyone, unless you see proof that the government requires the original document, according to the FTC.
You can verify whether a lawyer is legitimate by searching for them on the State Bar of California website and determining if they have an active law license.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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