The Immigrant Advocacy Program was created in 1998, and from our offices in Charlottesville and Northern Virginia, we have helped migrant farmworkers, day laborers, and other low-wage immigrant workers win judgments and settlements representing over $2 million in wages they had earned but were never paid. In Spanish, our name is Programa de Abogacia Para el Inmigrante or "PAPI."

Our lawyers and advocates prepare and distribute educational materials; visit areas where workers gather, work, and live to counsel workers regarding their legal rights; help our clients recover their unpaid wages in court or through administrative  proceedings; support immigrant community leaders and advocates in their efforts to participate in the civic debate regarding issues of particular interest to Virginia’s immigrants; and, promote public policies and systemic reforms that recognize the contributions of hardworking immigrants to Virginia’s economy and communities, and reduce the abuse and exploitation of immigrants.

We host the listservs of the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO) and the Virginia Immigrant Advocacy Coalition, and we are a founding member of the Virginia Alliance for Sensible Community Policing Efforts (VA-SCOPE).  If you are interested in joining these groups, contact IAP Legal Director Tim Freilich (tim@justice4all.org) in our Charlottesville office for more information. 

This program has received support from the Partnership For Equity of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, Cafritz Foundation, Herb Block Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Washington Forrest Foundation, Arlington Community Foundation, the Arlington County Bar Foundation, the County of Arlington, the County of Fairfax, the City of Alexandria, and from many generous individuals.