Viviana Westbrook

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., has been on the cutting edge of training nonprofit immigration legal service providers to provide affordable, quality legal representation to immigrants since its founding in 1988. Today the network includes more than 450 nonprofit organizations in 49 states. The network includes faith-based institutions, farmworker programs, domestic violence shelters, ethnic community-focused organizations, libraries and other entities that serve immigrants. Agencies in the network employ thousands accredited representatives and attorneys who, in turn, serve hundreds of thousands of low-income immigrants each year. CLINIC and its affiliate agencies represent low-income immigrants without regard for their race, religion, gender, ethnic group or other distinguishing characteristics. As it has throughout its history, CLINIC continues to react adeptly to rapid changes in the world of immigration law and policy. With a robust response to recent threats to vulnerable populations, CLINIC prepares its members to meet growing demands for legal screening, protection from deportation, adjustments of status and naturalization as citizens. CLINIC’s staff is based in our national office in Silver Spring, Maryland, with another dozen field offices across the United States. CLINIC’s work focuses on five core areas: advocacy, capacity building, national partnerships, religious immigration services, and training and legal support. As the largest charitable legal immigration network in the nation, CLINIC provides substantive legal and program management training and resources, as well as advocacy support at state, local and national levels. We train nearly 10,000 people each year on immigration-related topics. CLINIC also has a team of immigration attorneys who specialize in religious worker immigration law, assisting Catholic archdioceses, dioceses and religious communities to navigate this complex area of law.