Provide Legal Support

We provide legal services and support, including free legal representation for asylum seekers so that everyone around the world, including displaced people, can have equal access to their legal rights.

WATCH: Hear from some of the over 200,000 displaced people assisted by HIAS’ legal programs each year. (SideXSide Studios for HIAS)

Overview

As the number of refugees and other forcibly displaced people continues to grow each year, many governments have put policies in place to keep out those seeking safety from persecution, war, and conflict. Most displaced people spend years – and even decades – in legal limbo.

HIAS’ legal protection programs are dedicated to ensuring that displaced people know their rights, have access to protective services, and can navigate the often-complicated legal systems that lead to permanent status and security. With a focus on refugee community empowerment, HIAS works in the United States and around the world to protect the fundamental human rights of displace as established in international law. We are particularly focused on ensuring that the most vulnerable – including children, survivors of torture or sexual and gender-based violence, refugees with disabilities, and LGBTQ refugees – can secure intensive legal aid.

Learn More About Our Legal Services

271,773

people worldwide reached through HIAS legal services in 2021

10,000+

people helped in 2021 in Greece, where HIAS is a leading legal aid provider

Strategies

Our legal programs work to ensure that refugees and other forcibly displaced people are able to safely access the following key resources: territory; asylum or other protective legal status; and basic human rights such as health, shelter, education, and work.

We achieve this through the following legal interventions:

  • Partnering with NGOs, faith leaders, and communities around the world to educate and empower refugees and displaced people.

  • Providing individual representation by staff attorneys and our growing network of pro bono lawyers.

  • Engaging in strategic litigation to protect and advance the rights of refugees and other displaced people.

  • Helping clients integrate and remain protected through wraparound services and referrals to non-legal service providers.

Join our network of pro bono lawyers

HIAS’ Bono & Partnerships team engages volunteer attorneys from across the United States to help refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced people access vital immigration legal services.

Learn more and join

Impact

The Hotline Was "Ringing off the Hook"

The U.S.-Mexico border is effectively closed and the asylum system ground to a halt, but there is still plenty of work to do on behalf of asylum seekers.

Read More
seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Give Now

Give Now

Give Now

Help HIAS provide vital services to refugees and asylum seekers around the world

Search HIAS