2025 NMILC ANNUAL REPORT

Letter from the Executive Director

Our Community, Our Rights

Dear Friends,

Fifteen years ago, a small group of attorneys and advocates came together to ensure that every immigrant in New Mexico could access justice. Today, in our quinceañera year, we envision an even more just and prosperous future in every corner of our state. Standing against rapidly deteriorating civil and legal protections across the United States, our fight continues.

Across decades of organizing, with resources far more limited than our neighboring states, New Mexico has emerged as a national example of what a community committed to inclusion and equity can accomplish. These resources are invaluable when nearly all of NMILC’s federal funding has been cut off—just as the need is most urgent, and your support is at its most critical.

2025 was a turning point in our nation’s history for the erosion of due process rights and dismantling of legal resources at the federal level. But here in New Mexico, we remain strong in our commitment to being a welcoming, inclusive home that upholds fair and equal justice for all.

It has never been clearer that protecting the due process rights of immigrants protects the constitutional rights of all of us. That’s why, in 2025, NMILC dramatically expanded our legal response network to meet these challenges.

In a legal landscape that is changing hour by hour, our attorneys and fellows are innovating a rapid, effective response—providing detention risk assessments, family protection planning, court accompaniment, and community defense. We train volunteers, support families in crisis, and coordinate with organizations to ensure that every person has access to personal safety, fair representation, and continued opportunity.

In 2025, we also launched a new legal fellowship, expanding the number of immigrant advocates across the state. They collaborate with local partner organizations to open doors to employment and stability that were previously closed. By increasing licensure access and creating economic opportunity, we are strengthening families and the workforce that fuels New Mexico’s vitality.

The stakes are so high. And yet, the opportunities before us are profound. By supporting NMILC, you open the door to opportunity in New Mexico and defend democratic rights in this country. Every action you take is a step toward building community power and showing the nation what is possible when a state and its people truly believe in justice for all.

For 15 years, we have been preparing to meet this moment. At a time when so much feels at risk, we have the power to protect rights and build a stronger, more inclusive New Mexico. As long as we are in this fight together, we will win.

¡Adelante!

Jennifer Landau
Co-Director, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center

Teague González
Co-Director, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center

2025 — By The Numbers

In 2025, NMILC continued to meet the moment while also marking 15 years of service to immigrant communities across New Mexico. Thanks to your support, we served nearly 10,000 people this year alone — and more than 44,000 over the last 15 years.

9,787

SERVED THROUGHOUT NEW MEXICO

962

LEGAL FAIR & WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

3,882

IMMIGRANTS IN DETENTION RECEIVED LEGAL REPRESENTATION

139

BENEFITED FROM NAVIGATION & EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES

2,309

ACCESSED LEGAL INFORMATION & REFERRALS

1,229

RECEIVED PHONE CONSULTATIONS & LEGAL ADVICE

99

DIVERSE CULTURES & NATIONS REPRESENTED

1,266

IMMIGRANTS ENGAGED IN DIRECT REPRESENTATION

30 of 33 New Mexico counties served

Mora

Otero

Quay

Rio Arriba

Roosevelt

Sandoval

San Juan

San Miguel

Santa Fe

Sierra

Socorro

Taos

Torrance

Valencia

NMILC also served El Paso, Texas

Bernalillo

Catron

Chavez

Cibola

Colfax

Curry

De Baca

Doña Ana

Eddy

Grant

Guadalupe

Lea

Lincoln

Los Alamos

Luna

McKinley

NMILC 15 YEARS OF MEETING THE MOMENT

When NMILC opened its doors 15 years ago, there were virtually no legal services available to low-income immigrants facing detention or deportation in New Mexico. Every person who needed representation faced the impossible choice of navigating the system alone or going without help.

Your support changed everything. From zero people accessing services, NMILC has now provided legal council, advocacy, and opportunity to more than 44,000 people across New Mexico and El Paso.

Through twists and turns at the local, state and federal level, NMILC has evolved to rise toeach challenge and meet the moment. NMILC is unique today for being both a direct services organization and a policy-change organization. The recommendations we make—and the policies we fight for—are shaped by the people we serve and work alongside every day.

What began as defending the rights of people in detention evolved into a holistic model for systemic change. We developed a theory of change that integrates policy, education, advocacy, direct services, and expanding leadership among our staff and community. Our work expanded to advance citizenship, protect and advocate for youth and children, and broaden economic opportunity through work permits and professional licensing.

NMILC’s ripple of impact has grown family by family, into state law, and then national precedent. There are priceless human stories in every milestone we have achieved together. The following clients and supporters are just a few examples of the impact that our work, over a decade and a half of collaboration, continues to have.

The last 15 years have taught us what is possible when we link arms and demand what is right. Together, we have the power to shape what comes next.

When Dreams Come True

Yadira credits NMILC founders Jennifer Landau and Megan Jordi Brody with getting her to where she is today. She came to the U.S. from Guatemala in 1995, entering with her 2-year-old child. Because of circumstances beyond her control, she missed her immigration court dates.

In 2009, immigration knocked on her door with a deportation order for her and her daughter. ICE wasn’t aware that she also had a U.S. citizen son. Her two options during this time were bleak—she could leave the country with one child and give her son up for adoption, or she could leave alone. She couldn’t accept either choice.

A family law attorney in Albuquerque secured enough time for Yadira to get her son’s passport, so they could all leave together. Jennifer Landau, who was providing legal services through an Equal Justice Works fellowship prior to creating NMILC, stepped in to submit a U visa application that protected Yadira as the victim of a crime in the U.S.

“Jennifer worked on my case day and night, holidays and weekends,” says Yadira. “I’ve never had other attorneys show the same love for their clients that Jennifer had when she worked on my case. She experiences it as if it were her own case that she is fighting for. It was an immense gift.”

Even after being granted her U visa, a deportation order was still in place for Yadira and her daughter, which would not allow her to stay in the U.S. Megan Jordi Brody went to court and was able to get their deportation case dismissed. Four years after getting her U visa, Yadira and her daughter applied for and were granted residency. She also gained a work permit, which allowed her to get a job with benefits at a hospital.

“People appeared to help me whom I had never even met or known existed. It was a miracle,” Yadira says. She describes Jennifer as “a superhero without a cape or sword, especially now when the situation has become so complicated.”

Yadira went on to get her citizenship in 2020, and afterward petitioned for her husband, who became a citizen a few years later. Today, she has a home, a job, and five grandchildren she loves in a community she cherishes.

“I managed to make dreams come true that I once felt would never happen,” she says. “I would like to give my thanks to this organization because they do a great job and they do it all from the heart.”

PATHWAYS TO IMPACT: CITIZENSHIP

Yadira was one of the first clients served as NMILC was being created.

“I’ve never had other attorneys show the same love for their clients that Jennifer had when she worked on my case. She experiences it as if it were her own case that she is fighting for. It was an immense gift.”
— Yadira

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Two Languages, One Heart

ALVARO has been a client with NMILC and is now a volunteer interpreter for the organization. He was photographed at CNM, where he completed a Spanish/English interpreting program.

Alvaro remembers the moment he found his calling. He was attending an NMILC clinic to renew his green card. A little girl walked up and rang a bell—a signal that she had won immigration relief. Watching that scene unfold brought Alvaro back to when he first came to this country from El Salvador in the 1980s. He realized then that it was his duty to help other members of his community.

“Being an immigrant in a different country and not knowing the laws and the culture or how to navigate anything, you can fall through the cracks,” he says. He asked himself what he could do to help, and the answer came easily. Alvaro began volunteering for NMILC, interpreting at workshops and during U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) green card and citizenship interviews.

At age 52, Alvaro was already enrolled in the interpreting program at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM). He achieved a 4.0 grade point average while juggling being a single father, caring for a sick parent, working a full-time job, and volunteering for NMILC. Through the process, he discovered something he was really good at.

“The one thing that had always been my personal nemesis was being different in this country—not being from here and not being from there—and now it was the tool I could use as a bridge to bring both communities together,” he says. “I have two languages and one heart.”

While he was interpreting at an NMILC Economic Justice (EJ) workshop to help clients establish their businesses, Alvaro realized he was going to need similar services. He reached out to the EJ team to set up his interpreting business after graduation.

NMILC walked him through the process and explained legal terms he didn’t understand. The EJ team also helped him file for his business license and state and federal tax ID numbers.

Alvaro says that institutional oppression makes so many of these basic services inaccessible to his Spanish-speaking community. But he adds, “There are organizations like NMILC saying, ‘The doors are wide open, and we’ll walk you right through them.’”

Alvaro continues to volunteer his time with NMILC, helping others navigate the same path he did when he arrived in the U.S. “Sometimes it takes someone to take you by the hand, and when you get there, you might find something that you really like,” says Alvaro. “Just like I did. I found gold.”

“There are organizations like NMILC saying, ‘The doors are wide open, and we’ll walk you right through them.’”

PATHWAYS TO IMPACT: LEADERSHIP

A Voice at the Table

LIZDEBETH is Associate General Counsel in the Office of the Governor, where she advocates for immigrants and disenfranchised communities throughout New Mexico, uplifting their voices and rights.

Albuquerque has been Lizdebeth’s home as long as she can remember, since moving to the U.S. from Mexico at age 5. “Growing up, I always knew that we were leading a different life than my peers in school.” She developed an interest in law from watching her parents struggle with barriers to language and resources.

“They sacrificed everything they knew to give us a chance,” she says. “When I was 9 or 10 years old, I remember very specifically telling my mom, ‘I’m going to defend you one day, Mom.’ I knew I wanted to pursue advocacy in some way.” 

Lizdebeth first encountered NMILC in 2012 as a high school student at South Valley Academy, where NMILC staff members were providing free DACA consultations. “Honestly, it sounded too good to be true. Coming from an immigrant family and being undocumented, I never had access to an attorney.” Lizdebeth says she and her classmates wouldn’t have pursued legal protections if it weren’t for NMILC. “We were living in the shadows and afraid of what might happen.”

After eventually receiving DACA status, Lizdebeth joined NMILC to help other students apply. She advanced from legal assistant to Victim Advocate and, in 2016, to Equal Justice Works fellow paralegal. Eventually, she became NMILC’s first Department of Justice Accredited Representative, representing clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). “NMILC continued to light the fire in me,” she says.

Lizdebeth fulfilled her dream of attending law school at the University of New Mexico and returned to NMILC as an Equal Justice Works fellowship attorney in 2022, defending immigrant victims of crimes. “NMILC is really good at believing in young people and trying to uplift them to the point where they can reach their goals,” she says. “I’m living proof of that.”

In 2024, Lizdebeth took a position as Associate General Counsel in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office. As a “DACAmented” attorney, she uses her lived experience to be a strong advocate for immigrants and disenfranchised communities throughout New Mexico, so that their voices are heard and their rights are upheld.

“This was the path that I was meant to follow, and NMILC was instrumental in that process,” she says. “It went beyond having access to legal services. People at NMILC kept me moving forward to not give up on my dream of one day defending my mom. And now I can do that.”

YOUTH AND CHILDREN

Opening Doors to Healing

As a child, Evelyn accompanied her mother to doctors’ appointments to help interpret. She loved being the “vessel of information” between the physician and her mother, memorizing everything the doctor said. But she doubted medicine was a viable path. “I had great physicians and pediatricians growing up, but none of them looked like me,” says Evelyn. “That made me feel like medical school wasn’t for people like me.”

Evelyn was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S., to Española, when she was 2 years old. She heard about the DACA program through her parents—who she credits with much of her success in life—and NMILC on the news. Evelyn was approved for DACA at age 16 with the assistance of Megan Jordi Brody, one of NMILC’s founding attorneys.

Evelyn graduated as co-valedictorian of Española Valley High School, and her new legal status cleared the path for her future. “Without DACA I would not have been able to go to college and pursue an education,” she says. “It opened doors that would not have been opened otherwise.”

“I see friends who did not qualify for DACA, and I see how much they’re struggling,” she adds. “They’re working under-the-table jobs and can’t attend college. In that sense, I feel very privileged.”

“My goal is to provide equitable, high-value care with cultural humility to a Spanish-speaking and immigrant population. I’d like to provide a safe space for patients to approach health care—a place where they don’t have to fear mistreatment or discrimination.”

Evelyn worked to pay for her undergraduate studies in biology at Northern New Mexico College and applied for the Georgetown University ARCHES Program, designed for undergrad students interested in pursuing medicine. Evelyn was one of only 10 in the country selected. That gave her the confidence to apply for medical school at the University of New Mexico.

Evelyn is now in her final year at UNM and applying for residency programs. She hopes to become a family medicine doctor practicing in rural New Mexico, where there’s limited access to health care, especially among people who are uninsured or low income.

“My goal is to provide equitable, high-value care with cultural humility to a Spanish-speaking and immigrant population,” she says. “I’d like to provide a safe space for patients to approach health care— a place where they don’t have to fear mistreatment or discrimination.”

Evelyn says NMILC has supported and empowered her as she’s persevered to get to where she is. “DACA students live in a constant state of uncertainty, always in a gray area, and the water can get very murky,” she says. “I know that NMILC will always be there to guide me through those murky waters and provide clarity.”

DEPORTATION DEFENSE

Rising Up for Justice

Rachel has spent 25 years in courtrooms, building her solo law practice and reputation as a voice for justice. But over the past few months, her work has taken on new meaning through a partnership between the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association (NMTLA), NMILC, and the ACLU of New Mexico. Their innovative collaboration is helping detained immigrants seek asylum and legal protection.

“There’s a crisis in our democracy, in systems that we understand to operate with a modicum of fairness and the possibility of justice,” she says. “When lawyers feel helpless within this system, we’re in trouble.” The coalition—including colleagues, friends, and concerned citizens—came together to have frank discussions about what they could do to create solutions in the immigration landscape across New Mexico and the country.

Rachel admits that immigration law was outside her usual lane when she joined the group. Still, she knew that the specialized skills trial lawyers have are equally valuable in immigration court. “We know how to walk into a courtroom and tell a story that matters, and that can touch the hearts and minds of people who may not recognize that they have the power to affect change,” she says. “I felt like this was a way for me to work within a system that I know and that I believe in, that is in crisis, in a new and unfamiliar way.”

Right from the outset, Rachel says NMILC has been an invaluable partner to her and
her colleagues, offering much-needed expertise and leadership in guiding trial lawyers through unfamiliar territory. When NMTLA co-hosted a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) session with NMILC to train attorneys in representing detained immigrants, they thought maybe 40 or 50 people would show up. Instead, 350 lawyers attended.

“It’s truly what you want to see your community do—rise up. We’re seeing a willingness and a desire,” she says. “But we just needed some good, hard instruction about how not to screw it up. And that’s where NMILC comes in.”

Rachel says mentorship from NMILC has been “impressive and incredible” as she and fellow attorney Mark Fine are representing an Ethiopian detainee in both his removal and asylum cases. Trial lawyers mentoring with NMILC have weekly office hours with an expert attorney who knows their case, as well as immediate access if something comes up.

“If you’re even one percent interested in learning how to represent someone who is detained and defending a removal case or seeking asylum, do it. Because the support is there,” she says. “And the need is enormous.”

RACHEL is a trial lawyer with her own practice, Rachel E. Higgins, Attorney at Law, in Albuquerque. She is representing a detained client on a pro-bono basis as part of a new partnership.

STAFF & FULL-TIME VOLUNTEERS

Alexandra Moreno 

Amani Sarras

Ana Roman 

Andres Santiago 

Anna Trillo 

April Hinojos

Aracely Ramirez Flores 

Arniel Ortega-Fernandez 

Aurora Arreola

Brenda Morales Valdez 

Carolina Hernandez 

Caroline Sassan

Casey Mangan 

Christina Sobolik 

Cinthia Quiroz

Claudia Alvarez

Cointa Najera

Cristian Aguilar 

Delaney Swink 

Elizabeth Zavala 

Elliot Edeburn

Emily Alvarez

Emma Race

Evany Lopez

Felipe Vasquez

Gloria Amesquita  

Gloria Legarda

Hali Calzadillas-Andujo 

Ivonne Aguirre

Jasmain Rodriguez 

Jasmine McGee

Jennifer Landau

Jennifer Mendoza 

Jennifer Nunez

Jennifer Sturman

Jenny Bejarano

Jessica Martinez

Jocelyn Enriquez

Jorge Rodriguez

Kerry Sherck

Lauren Keenan

Lauryn Pfrommer-Pease

Lela Wendell

Leslie Villagomez Maldonado 

Leticia Macias

Margaret Brown Vega 

Margherita Tessarollo 

Maricruz Melero

Marisa Lopez Bojorquez 

Marissa Crawford

Maritza Berger

Mercy Zaldivar

Natalie Cauley

Nora Hernandez Cordova 

Norma Saenz

Oona Bjornstad

Rachael Maestas

Raye Myers

Renee Wolters 

Richard Torres Gonzalez

Samantha Thackaberry 

Shalini Thomas 

Solveigh Johnson 

Sonia Ramirez
Sophia Genovese 

Sunandita Santhanam 

Susana Corona

Teague González

Thalia Fort

Theresa Wilkes

Valeria De Lira Richards 

Valeria Garcia Tavarez 

Valeria Padilla

Verenice Peregrino Pompa 

Víctor Romero-Hernández 

Victoria Varela

Yadira Holguin

Zoe Bowman

Zoila Alvarez-Hernández 

HOW WE’RE MEETING THE MOMENT IN 2026

Habeas Petition Expansion

As immigration enforcement grows more aggressive, NMILC
is seeing a rise in people being detained under questionable circumstances—including individuals with legal status, work permits, and DACA. To meet this urgent need, NMILC is expanding its capacity to file habeas petitions, a legal tool used to challenge unlawful detention. We are training additional staff and deepening our collaboration with the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association and the ACLU, so that more advocates are prepared to step in quickly when a detention is unjust. This expanded work also links directly with our rapid-response efforts, ensuring families are contacted immediately and understand their options when someone is detained.


Family Preparedness Clinics

For families worried about what might happen if a loved one is detained or deported, NMILC’s family preparedness clinics offer practical, protective solutions. Participants receive Know Your Rights education, screenings for immigration relief, and help completing individualized powers of attorney— the most universally protective legal document for mixed-status families, identified through intensive research and input from New Mexico judges. These clinics also support families in identifying trusted caregivers, protecting assets and businesses, and preventing children from entering the foster system.

We are expanding this work through a multilingual family preparedness toolkit and by training community partners so immigrant families statewide have access to accurate, actionable safety-planning resources.


Join us in meeting this moment. With your gift, we can:

  • Maintain legal services for unaccompanied children and others in detention.

  • Expand rapid-response services, including accompaniment during ICE check-ins and emergency notification to families when a loved one is detained.

  • Strengthen family preparedness clinics and statewide toolkit training to keep families together and prevent children from entering foster care.

  • Develop strategic litigation to safeguard due process in an increasingly volatile legal landscape.

Recent changes in federal immigration policy and enforcement have brought urgent needs that NMILC cannot meet alone. In 2025, we doubled our service volume through our client intake hotline, launched new family preparedness clinics, and created a multilingual toolkit so parents can safeguard their children, assets, and rights during a crisis. We also increased accompaniment to ICE check- ins and Immigration Court hearings so families have an advocate and a witness present if detention occurs.

SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT

Tony Monfiletto

I’m the founder of Future Focused Education and have started a few different schools for kids who were off track for graduation or dropped out. When I was principal at ACE Leadership High School, some of my students interned at NMILC, and we set up times for the organization to come help students with documentation.

My wife and I have always been donors and had multiple fundraisers at our house. We invited everybody we knew to listen to young people talk about their experience with NMILC. In 2025, I offered to do a charity bike ride from Vancouver to San Francisco. I was apprehensive because our support has always been mostly anonymous. But it was a morale boost for NMILC and was another way to raise their profile.

There were people and family members who contributed that I never would have thought would contribute to an immigrant rights organization. And for me, that was an affirmation that it’s not so bleak. These are the times when people need to stand by the most vulnerable, the folks who are being demonized.

What keeps me involved is seeing young people with so much potential being held back by unjust systems. I have a lot of trust that NMILC does the hard work of helping people get through the legal process. If you can associate yourself with that kind of need or vulnerability and stand with those folks, that’s how the demonizing ends

Are you interested in volunteering for NMILC? Use your voice to advocate for systemic change during the state legislative sessions, perform intakes and prepare legal forms with clinic participants, or visit our community members in detention to provide much-needed support and Know Your Rights information. Find your role in the movement by submitting a volunteer interest form!

PRO BONO SPOTLIGHT

Julia Barnes

I am an attorney who has both a public and private practice. A CLE (Continuing LegalEducation) event I took was transformational as to how I chose my pro bono work. The speaker told us to pick a topic area and become an expert in that area of law. Immigration issues matter personally to me as an American, which led me to devote my pro bono practice to working with NMILC.

I started with asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile cases. Working with the more intense cases, you have the ability to change somebody’s life. We have a team that shares the workload and thought process on the best way to do this. My paralegal is involved, along with other volunteer paralegals, and a couple of lawyers.

I recently started working on family preparedness. These clinics can provide families with basic support to help them be prepared for an emergency and to have important conversations with their family members on what to do in an emergency. It also helps to make deportation or detention less stressful when the family is taken care of during that chaotic time.

I carefully choose those that I work with on pro bono cases. I want it to be effective. The funding NMILC gets is precious, and they’re very thoughtful about how they use it, in the same way that they’re thoughtful about not wasting my pro bono time. It feels like a great partnership for me. They are a great organization to give funding to, as well as your time.

3,682

HOURS DONATED
BY PRO BONO ATTORNEYS AND DOJ-ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVES

Are you interested in pro bono work for NMILC?

We work with practicing and retired attorneys status attorneys with experience in any area of law to support direct representation cases with our children’s team. You’ll receive training, mentorship, and self-study CLE credits, plus emeritus status for retired legal professionals without a license. Help change the lives of young immigrants who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected. Submit a pro bono inquiry form to get started!

Many Thanks to All of Our Supporters!

We are so grateful to our amazing community of volunteers, who contribute the time and talent that make everything we do possible. Your commitment is what drives our mission and helps us create real change!

Thank You to Our Pro Bono Attorneys!

Our law firm & pro bono attorney partners sponsor trainings for volunteer attorneys, offer legal expertise & mentorship to our staff, & take on cases pro bono. 

THANK YOU TO OUR BOARD AND FORMER STAFF MEMBERS

 
 

FISCAL YEAR 2025 FINANCIALS

REVENUE SOURCES

Significant contributions from individuals, foundations, and collaborations with community partners continue to be an important source of our funding, allowing us to expand our services and impact with fewer restrictions.

Public Funding (local, state, federal) $2,558,961 Donated Professional Services $378,559

In-kind contributions from pro bono legal and other professionals enable us to extend our reach and provide high- quality services without additional financial burden.

Investment and Other $182,443

TOTAL REVENUE $8,328,072


EXPENSES

Program Services $5,558,404

These funds were directly invested in delivering our core programs.

Core Mission Support $563,532

This category includes essential mission support activities such as strategic leadership, fundraising, accounting, technology, and operational infrastructure necessary for sustaining our programs.

TOTAL EXPENSES $6,121,936


15 YEARS OF MEETING THE MOMENT


ALBUQUERQUE • SANTA FE • LAS CRUCES

Our mission is to advance justice and equity by empowering low-income immigrant communities through collaborative legal services, advocacy, and education.


Every contribution helps NMILC respond quickly, protect rights, and provide justice to vulnerable immigrant community members.

ACT NOW. JOIN US.

MAILING ADDRESS
PO Box 7040, Albuquerque, NM 87194-7040

TEL 505-247-1023

FAX 505-633-8056

info@nmilc.org

nmilc.org