Our Story
In 2017, we started visiting immigrants in the Aurora, CO GEO Detention Center, with the primary goal of providing friendship and emotional support to immigrants housed in detention. Our small group of friends quickly learned that - due to lack of access to legal services - most immigrants in detention are at high risk of being deported to dangerous situations in their countries of origin.
As interest in our visitation work grew, we raised money via GoFundMe sites to fund the asylum cases for 15 immigrants. This provided the momentum to create the Colorado Immigrant Justice Fund (CIJF) - a legal defense fund for the immigrants we meet as part of our visitation efforts.
Due to the pandemic, we converted our visitation program to a pen pal program in March 2020. Since that time, nearly 1,600 volunteers have written to over 2,000 immigrants in 60 detention centers around the country. Because of this, we expanded our focus to provide legal services to immigrants around the country who we meet through visitation and letter-writing efforts.
CIJF officially launched in July 2020. As of January 2026, we have provided legal services for over 700 asylum seekers, including legal consultations, bond hearings, parole hearings, habeas cases, asylum cases, and assistance with complicated I-589 asylum applications. Most of our investments are focused on funding legal representation for immigrants detained in Aurora, Colorado. We also fund legal counsel for immigrants detained in remote parts of California and Louisiana.
In May of 2022, ICE again allowed visits to immigrants in detention, so volunteers are now both writing to and visiting with immigrants in detention. And the legal needs of our detained friends are as high as ever.
Read more about the importance of legal representation and about our Mission, Vision and Values