Orange County Justice Fund

Immigrant Bond Fund

OCJF founded the first and only immigrant bond fund in 2019. Through this program OCJF provides financial assistance to free community members from immigration detention, that cannot afford to pay the price of the immigration bond set by an immigration judge or ICE officer in exchange for their freedom, to reunite them with their families as safe and as fast as possible. OCJF’s bond fund seeks to mitigate the harmful effects of ICE detention for OC and Southern California families. By providing immigration bond fund support we eliminate immigrants and their loved ones from turning to predatory third-party bond agents. Often, these bond agents require repayment of not only the full bond amount but also interest, resulting in heightened financial insecurity on top of the physical and mental stress of facing continued immigration proceedings. Whether OCJF pays for all or part of an individual’s bond, we will never ask for repayment. Instead, at the end of the legal proceedings, if the individual fully complies with all requirements to appear in court, OCJF will receive the bond funds back from the federal government and will use those funds to help free another individual. In 2023 OCJF has received twice the amount of bond fund applications than we did in 2022, confirming the trend in increased population in immigrant detention centers and therefore the need for financial bond assistance to these individuals. OCJF prioritizes bond assistance applications from OC residents, and the length of detention of the person applying. Due to capacity, OCJF is not able to provide bond assistance to all individuals to apply, leaving individuals with few options to avoid financial devastation to free themselves or their loved one from immigration detention. OCJF provides legal aid and assesses non-legal needs, such as health, housing, and food security to further connect them to resources within OCJF and in the community.

Legal Empowerment

OCJF’s Legal Empowerment programming aims to meet the legal needs of low-income immigrant and refugee community members entangled in the immigration legal system, specifically the thousands of OC residents defending against deportation who do not have legal representation (and those at risk). Legal Empowerment is a global grassroots movement democratizing the law and redistributing legal power to those directly affected by injustice. It creates opportunities for communities to know, use, shape, and transform law and systems that impact their lives. OCJF will continue to employ its Program Coordinator and Executive Director to ensure that its mission is carried through this project. OCJF will invest in their leadership through DOJ training to become accredited representatives, and furthermore take steps for the organization to become an accredited DOJ organization in order to enhance the legal aid offerings we are able to provide. These steps will enable OCJF to expand the legal empowerment services we can provide and will exemplify how a pro se model of legal services can complement legal service providers providing deportation defense services who are often at capacity to fill the gap of the need of community members who are defending against deportation who cannot afford a private attorney.

Healing Program - Cafecito Contigo

In 2022, launched Cafecito Contigo, a healing program for female-identifying community members impacted by immigration detention. The program has proven to be a secure and sacred space where topics such as domestic violence, mental health, and rehabilitation can be discussed with the consent of the participant with trusted facilitators. It is a special place in Orange County where the community can choose to go to when they need help to heal and gain resources. The program structure is six months long and consisted of two monthly meetings where the participants would grab a coffee, join the meeting, and begin the discussion and exercises the facilitators planned within the framework of Healing Justice. Healing Justice is a framework used in movements to holistically respond and intervene in generational trauma and state violence by utilizing and implementing healing modalities indigenous to our community. es. Healing Justice aims to respond, interrupt, and end state-sanctioned violence that impacts our communities, including but not limited to prison industrial complexes, medical industrial complexes, militarized policing, institutional racism, and more. Healing Justice invites us to dream of a world and create alternatives that are accessible, safe, and not dependent on the state.

Fellowship

OCJF’s fellowship program is for community members directly impacted by immigration detention, who have been released on bond, to develop skills, build on their work experiences, and aid in community reintegration while continuing to defend against deportation. OCJF’s past fellows’ interests which were pursued through the program include, film making, social media, and facilitation of OCJF’s healing program Cafecito Contigo. Facilitators of fellowships include relevant OCJF staff and trusted independent contractors who work with the fellow to create a meaningful in-depth fellowship experience. OCJF aims to empower directly impacted community members to build on the skills they have, and to contribute to generating change in the immigration system.