Carmela Meehan

Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA)

Founded in 1918, the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA) helps immigrants, refugees, and their families join and contribute to the community. IIBA is a 102 year old nonprofit that provides high quality, low-cost immigration legal services, education, and civic engagement opportunities. IIBA has expanded its geographic reach to rural areas where previously there had been no access to quality, low cost immigration legal services. With eight offices in six counties, IIBA is the largest nonprofit provider of immigration legal services in the Bay Area. IIBA has more than doubled our legal team staff since 2013 to respond to the increased demand for high-quality low-cost immigration legal services. IIBA provides the full spectrum of immigration legal services including deportation defense. IIBA collaborates with community partners and local governments to maximize our impact. In San Francisco, IIBA and our community partners have helped 9,000 individuals apply for US citizenship in the last 7 years as part of the San Francisco Pathways to Citizenship Collaborative. As the lead agency of the Napa Citizenship Legal Services Collaborative, IIBA and our partners have helped over 1,500 individuals become citizens in the Napa area since 2013. As the lead agency of the Bay Area DACA Collaborative, IIBA coordinated with community partners to complete 9,000 DACA applications from 2012 to 2015. IIBA holds Know Your Rights presentations, educating individuals on their legal rights and helping safeguard them. It also conducts weekly ESL and citizenship classes throughout the Bay Area to help permanent residents prepare for their naturalization interviews. Because of IIBA's services, more immigrant families obtain stable immigration status in the United States.