The Immigration Advocates Network (IAN), a program of Pro Bono Net, is dedicated to expanding access to immigration legal resources and information through collaboration and technology. IAN was created in 2007 by leading immigrant rights organizations and is used widely to share immigration legal resources. Citizenshipworks is one of IAN’s projects. 

Jillian Jin, the AmeriCorps VISTA "Pro Bono Remote Volunteer Project Coordinator" at IAN, met with the Citizenshipworks team to discuss the additional projects and resources offered. 

IAN members can watch webinars and trainings hosted by immigration experts, sign up for important news and legal updates, search job postings, and connect to other members in the National Immigration Legal Services Directory. 

The legal directory, one of IAN’s largest projects, is a resource that is free and available to the public. It allows you to find immigration legal services providers by state, county, or detention facility. In recent years, the directory has been updated by IAN's AmeriCorps VISTA staff member. This includes sending a form to every organization asking for any changes in services, staff updates, and more. Jillian collects these changes and updates the directory accordingly. “I vet the organization and staff to make sure they are a non-profit and provide immigration services with at least one attorney or accredited representative,” says Jillian.

The criteria for inclusion in the directory is that an organization or program must be nonprofit, provide immigration legal services, and either have attorneys on staff or be DOJ-recognized. To join, organizations have to apply and Jillian will review the request within a 24-hour turnaround.

In addition to IAN, Citizenshipworks, Immi, and several mobile apps depend on the directory updates to provide legal referrals to their users and partners.