Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP)

05/31/2026

The BIJAN Bond Fund, one of the key bond funds supporting Maine people who have been detained, has run out of funds. Learn more about their critical work below and help spread the word!

05/28/2026

The Maine Solidarity Fund is a crucial resource for Maine people facing ICE detention. Give them a follow and support their transformative work for Maine’s immigrant communities!

05/27/2026

CeleSoirée is more than a celebration. It’s a chance to support ILAP’s critical legal services to help immigrants in Maine gain legal status and work authorization, be released from detention, and remain with their families.

But ILAP’s work would not be possible without the many immigrant-led organizations whose important non-legal work supports our clients as they navigate their immigration cases. That’s why 30% of the net proceeds from this year’s CeleSoirée are being shared equally among a cohort of immigrant-led and immigrant-serving organizations across Maine:

Empowered Immigrant Women Unite
Furniture Friends
Maine MultiCultural Center
Maine Solidarity Fund
Trinity Jubilee Center

Thanks again to our Presenting and Champion Sponsors, who made this event possible!
Androscoggin Bank
The Boulos Company
Coffee By Design
Bernstein Shur
Norway Savings Bank
Systems Engineering

05/22/2026

Last week marked the return of CeleSoirée, ILAP’s annual community gathering event, after a 7-year hiatus. Over 350 community members, volunteers, advocates, and business leaders came together at Portland's Ocean Gateway to celebrate Maine’s immigrant communities, while enjoying the live music of Kouchera and food by Taj Indian & Indo-Chinese Cuisine, Yardie Ting LLC, and MAIZ Colombian Street Food. It was a truly special night, and we are so grateful to everyone who was able to join us.

This event wouldn't have been possible without the support of our sponsors.

Thank you to our Presenting Sponsors:
Androscoggin Bank
The Boulos Company
Coffee By Design

and to our Champion Sponsors:
Bernstein Shur
Norway Savings Bank
Systems Engineering

photo credit: Why Not Productions

05/18/2026

Join our team! Learn more and apply at https://ilapmaine.org/employment. And please help us spread the word about these important positions!

DONOR ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Review of applications will begin on May 25, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled.

This role is a dedicated member of our fundraising team who plays a central role in sustaining and deepening ILAP’s relationships with individual donors and business partners.

Reporting to the Development Director, the Donor Engagement Manager is responsible for the stewardship, engagement, and cultivation of donors in ILAP’s individual giving program — from entry-level supporters to mid-level donors — as well as the growth and management of ILAP’s business giving program, the Resilience Circle. This role owns the day-to-day relationship work that moves donors forward, deepens their commitment to ILAP’s mission, and creates a meaningful experience of belonging within the India Street Society and its giving circles.

SENIOR MANAGING ATTORNEY, DETENTION PROJECT
Review of applications will begin on June 1, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled.

This role is responsible for programmatic, strategic, and operational leadership for ILAP’s Detention Project. The Senior Managing Attorney, Detention Project, supervises Detention Project staff and fellows and leads a growing area of work focused on expanding access to immigration legal services for Maine residents detained by U.S. immigration officials and residents of other states being detained in Maine.

The role serves as ILAP’s lead attorney for habeas corpus litigation, responsible for litigating habeas petitions directly and as co-counsel. The role also manages ILAP’s work with external attorneys handling low bono and pro bono habeas petitions for clients referred by ILAP.

Additionally, the Senior Managing Attorney, Detention Project, serves as a key connector across ILAP’s legal work, ensuring that detention-related services are aligned and integrated with the organization’s broader immigration practice. In a project that is still evolving, the Senior Detention Attorney will play a central role in defining priorities, strengthening coordination, and building sustainable systems that support both clients and staff.

05/15/2026

🔗Learn more and take action now at www.ilapmaine.org/ice-funding.

Every day, ILAP is responding to immigration arrests in Maine. Maine residents are facing inhumane conditions in detention centers, are at risk of life-threatening deportation, families are torn apart, and Maine’s communities are losing beloved members and essential workers. So many have withdrawn from public life, are afraid to send children to school, to go to work, seek medical care, practice their religion, and move freely.

Join ILAP in calling on Maine’s Members of Congress to vote NO on any additional funding for unchecked immigration enforcement.

05/07/2026

ILAP applauds the Portland City Council for passing a new ordinance (7-1) that will maximize local protections for Portland residents and city employees against ICE and Border Patrol.

ILAP Policy Director, Lisa Parisio, testified on behalf of ILAP, explaining: “At its core, this ordinance is about ensuring we are doing everything we can at a local level and that city resources are not deliberately or inadvertently used to put people into ICE or Border Patrol’s hands, where their rights and safety are instantly at grave risk.”

Parisio also noted that the ordinance responds to “impacts on Portland’s overall public health, trust, and safety, as well as the economic consequences caused by so many people withdrawing from public life out of fear and anxiety.”

This ordinance also “provides important guidance, support, and protection to all city staff. The weight of clear and consistent law is needed to ensure no city worker is left making individual decisions when the consequences are as high as they are.”

ILAP also weighed in on a proposed amendment that would’ve weakened the ordinance’s protections, carving out exceptions for compliance if ICE presents an administrative warrant (a "warrant" that ICE itself issues) or uses threats or intimidation.

Parisio said: “Unfortunately, in this environment, intimidation and aggressive tactics are what ICE does. Ensuring this ordinance protects the people of Portland means preparing for that."

🔗 Read the full article: https://mainemorningstar.com/2026/05/05/portland-limits-immigration-enforcement-assistance-going-beyond-other-cities/

04/15/2026

ILAP applauds the Maine legislature’s passage of LD 2106, a critically-needed bill aimed at protecting Maine residents and workers from unchecked immigration enforcement at sensitive locations including public schools, hospitals, and libraries.

ILAP acknowledges and deeply appreciates the tenacious advocacy of directly impacted communities, teachers, nurses, and partner organizations, as well as the leadership of the bill’s sponsor, Representative Eleanor Sato, and the many other state legislators who advocated for this bill. It now heads to Governor Mills’ desk, who has already expressed support.

Read the full press release: https://ilapmaine.org/ilap-news/04-14-2026

04/03/2026

Earlier this week, the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee voted to sustain and increase civil legal aid funding in Maine.

Civil legal aid funding is critical in helping Maine residents who would otherwise not have access to an attorney secure immigration legal help, stop eviction, escape domestic violence, access healthcare, and more.

While the work continues to secure higher levels of ongoing funding in the state budget, this is a major win and a step towards access to justice in our state.

Thank you so much to our community members, partners, and legislators for your incredible advocacy during the Committee process.

04/03/2026

"For Maine’s immigrant communities who are using the internet to seek legal services and access other services and resources, digital profiles hold details about their lives that could easily be used to target them for mass immigration enforcement and deportation. The Department of Homeland Security has already purchased information from brokers to track people. The stakes could not be higher: Maine residents in ICE detention report sub-human conditions and more than 40 people have died in U.S. detention centers since January 2025. People detained by ICE are at risk of fast-track deportation to potentially life-threatening circumstances, and families are separated and permanently destabilized."

"Whether it’s decisions about when to start a family or who we choose to start a family with, we don’t want others involved in our personal, private decisions."