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Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
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Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) is a non-profit legal services organization in Washington state. NWIRP's mission is to promote justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education.
Founded in 1984, in the context of the sanctuary movement, the project was created to address the legal needs of Central American refugees and others who were able to legalize their status under Amnesty programs. NWIRP has grown significantly in scope and currently serves more than 10,000 low-income immigrants per year from more than 100 countries across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.
King County Councilmember Jorge L. Barón was director of the organization from 2008 to 2023. Its current director is Malou Chávez.
NWIRP has four offices in Washington State. The Seattle Office serves immigrant communities in Western Washington. The Granger Office (in the Yakima Valley) and the Wenatchee Office, serve the immigrant communities in Eastern Washington. The Tacoma Office originally focused solely on serving persons detained at the Northwest Detention Center (owned and operated by the GEO Group), but now also provides representation to non-detained immigrant communities in Western Washington.
NWIRP provides direct representation to individuals who are applying for political asylum, family visas, lawful status under the Violence Against Women Act, and naturalization or citizenship. NWIRP also provides direct representation, defending individuals who are placed in removal proceedings (deportation proceedings). In addition, supported by a grant from the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the U.S. Department of Justice, NWIRP provides legal orientation sessions to all persons detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, who are placed in removal proceedings. Additionally, NWIRP regularly hosts webinars and trainings for immigrant rights advocates and attorneys.
Apart from representing individuals in administrative proceedings, NWIRP also provides direct representation before the federal district courts and the courts of appeals, primarily the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. These are generally impact litigation cases, designed to affect large numbers of people and bring about meaningful social change through setting precedents.
In addition, NWIRP has represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, NWIRP's legal director, Matt Adams, presented arguments to the Supreme Court in January 2022, arguing on behalf of two certified classes that had prevailed in the district courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The district courts and the court of appeals had ordered that the class members be granted bond hearings after being held in immigration detention for six months. The Supreme Court in Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez, 142 S. Ct. 2057 (2022), reversed the Ninth Circuit, and held that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(f)(1) prohibits lower courts from entering injunctions that "order federal officials to take or to refrain from taking actions to enforce, implement, or otherwise carry out" certain parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), including its detention provisions. The decision severely restricts judiciary's ability to require that the executive branch comply with the INA.
NWIRP also joined with former NWIRP attorney Robert Pauw in successfully petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a Ninth Circuit opinion that had barred federal district courts from reviewing danger determinations in bond hearings. Martinez v. Clark, 144 S.Ct. 1339 (2024).
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Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) is a non-profit legal services organization in Washington state. NWIRP's mission is to promote justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education.
Founded in 1984, in the context of the sanctuary movement, the project was created to address the legal needs of Central American refugees and others who were able to legalize their status under Amnesty programs. NWIRP has grown significantly in scope and currently serves more than 10,000 low-income immigrants per year from more than 100 countries across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.
King County Councilmember Jorge L. Barón was director of the organization from 2008 to 2023. Its current director is Malou Chávez.
NWIRP has four offices in Washington State. The Seattle Office serves immigrant communities in Western Washington. The Granger Office (in the Yakima Valley) and the Wenatchee Office, serve the immigrant communities in Eastern Washington. The Tacoma Office originally focused solely on serving persons detained at the Northwest Detention Center (owned and operated by the GEO Group), but now also provides representation to non-detained immigrant communities in Western Washington.
NWIRP provides direct representation to individuals who are applying for political asylum, family visas, lawful status under the Violence Against Women Act, and naturalization or citizenship. NWIRP also provides direct representation, defending individuals who are placed in removal proceedings (deportation proceedings). In addition, supported by a grant from the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the U.S. Department of Justice, NWIRP provides legal orientation sessions to all persons detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, who are placed in removal proceedings. Additionally, NWIRP regularly hosts webinars and trainings for immigrant rights advocates and attorneys.
Apart from representing individuals in administrative proceedings, NWIRP also provides direct representation before the federal district courts and the courts of appeals, primarily the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. These are generally impact litigation cases, designed to affect large numbers of people and bring about meaningful social change through setting precedents.
In addition, NWIRP has represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, NWIRP's legal director, Matt Adams, presented arguments to the Supreme Court in January 2022, arguing on behalf of two certified classes that had prevailed in the district courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The district courts and the court of appeals had ordered that the class members be granted bond hearings after being held in immigration detention for six months. The Supreme Court in Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez, 142 S. Ct. 2057 (2022), reversed the Ninth Circuit, and held that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(f)(1) prohibits lower courts from entering injunctions that "order federal officials to take or to refrain from taking actions to enforce, implement, or otherwise carry out" certain parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), including its detention provisions. The decision severely restricts judiciary's ability to require that the executive branch comply with the INA.
NWIRP also joined with former NWIRP attorney Robert Pauw in successfully petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a Ninth Circuit opinion that had barred federal district courts from reviewing danger determinations in bond hearings. Martinez v. Clark, 144 S.Ct. 1339 (2024).