Litigation Program

Al Otro Lado is an organizational plaintiff in several class action challenges to policies meant to restrict access to the US asylum system, including: Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a class-action lawsuit challenging CBP’s unlawful practice of denying asylum seekers access to the U.S. asylum system; East Bay v. Trump and East Bay v. Barr, challenging the asylum bans applied to refugees traveling through third countries to reach the US and those who cross the US border between ports of entry; Innovation Law Lab v. Wolf, challenging the “Remain in Mexico” program, and E.A.R.R. v. DHS, a class action filed on behalf of disabled and medically vulnerable migrants forced to wait in Mexico for US asylum hearings. Al Otro Lado is also an organizational plaintiff in Fraihat v. ICE, which challenges ICE’s failure to provide adequate accommodations and medical care to disabled and medically vulnerable immigrants detained in ICE facilities.

Al Otro Lado frequently partners with the nationally acclaimed Law Office of Andrew Free. Al Otro Lado and Andrew Free are co-counsel in two class-action lawsuits that allege that the private prison subcontractors routinely violate labor trafficking law by forcing detained immigrants to work inside their detention centers at little to no compensation. Al Otro Lado supports Mr. Free’s #DetentionKills project, and we have recently opened a Louisiana outpost to expand our litigation on behalf of immigrants detained in the Southeast US.

Al Otro Lado has represented dozens of detained immigrants in habeas petitions throughout Southern California and in the Southeast US. Al Otro Lado has a new and growing FOIA litigation project, supported by U of Chicago Law and other university partners.

Al Otro Lado has also filed dozens of civil rights / civil liberties complaints in individual cases before the Office of Inspector General, and in collaboration with advocacy partners.