ABOUT US
OUR MISSION:
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project helps low-income immigrants improve their legal status and works for more just and humane laws and policies affecting immigrants.
Immigrants have helped shape Maine’s culture and economy
even prior to its statehood. Today's immigrants from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East follow in the footsteps of those from Africa, Canada, China and Europe who have come to our state for centuries.
Immigrants have long appreciated Maine for its welcoming people and its way of life, and have made vital contributions to every aspect of Maine's economy, including Maine’s agriculture, hospitality, and professional sectors. Today, ILAP estimates Maine’s immigrant population to be over 55,000 persons. Each year, we assist clients originating from dozens of countries, who come to us from all 16 of Maine's counties.
As Maine’s only provider of immigration and related legal aid to low-income Maine residents, ILAP helps immigrants stabilize and upgrade their immigration status so that they can improve their lives and those of their families, and so that, like the immigrants before them, they can participate fully and meaningfully in Maine society.