SANCTUARY Legal Defense Fund
The Sanctuary Legal Defense Fund is a community-led effort that provides urgently needed legal support to immigrant families in San Francisco who would otherwise have to face immigration court alone. By helping cover critical costs like legal fees and attorney deposits, the fund turns individual donations into concrete protection for families at risk of detention, deportation, and permanent separation. Contributing means making sure parents and children walk into court with a lawyer by their side, a real chance at safety, and a sense of hope instead of fear.
The fund was born directly from what immigrant families in our local committee said they needed most: immediate legal help in a system that is overloaded and deeply unequal. Even with some public funding for nonprofit immigration lawyers, there are still long waiting lists and nowhere near enough attorneys to meet the need, leaving many families—including many children—unrepresented in complex, high-stakes proceedings. Roxana, one of the mothers who helped start the fund and whose story was featured on Christmas Day in The Guardian, exemplifies both the heartbreak of this system and the power of organizing to push back against it. Supporting the Sanctuary Legal Defense Fund is a direct way to stand with families like hers, defend due process, and help keep loved ones together.