black alliance for just immigration (baji)
What We D0
community-driven campaigns
With chapters in five locations across the country – Atlanta, Houston, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York – BAJI organizers work closely with community members on issues such as abolition, surveillance, police brutality, resource sharing, mutual aid, language justice, universal legal representation, housing, and political education.
community-driven litigation
BAJI partnered with organizers to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation to shed light on the federal government’s decision to deploy U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a government agency with a history of using racist law enforcement methods, to crack down on protesters demanding racial justice following the murder of George Floyd. BAJI also partners with detained people on FOIA litigation that reveals abuses and anti-Black discrimination in immigration detention centers.
community paralegals
BAJI assists its community paralegals, many of whom were legal professionals in their birth countries, in becoming Department of Justice (DOJ) accredited representatives.
convener
BAJI’s Black Migrant Ecosystem (BME) hosts convenings virtually and in different U.S. cities to bring together Black individuals interested in immigration work.
know your rights & popular education
Both BAJI’s organizers and legal team regularly host in-person and virtual Know Your Rights (KYR) workshops in different U.S. cities and in Mexico for Black migrant communities.
pro se legal clinics
BAJI’s pro se legal clinics are part of the Black Immigrant and Refugee Equity (BIRE) Project as well as general programming and cover different immigration issues.
Our Story
The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) is a U.S.-based national organization that fights for the rights of Black migrants and African Americans through legal advocacy, organizing, research, policy, and narrative building to improve the conditions of Black communities by advancing racial justice and migrant rights.
BAJI’s legal team works to combat the criminalization and deportation of Black immigrant communities through a powerful three-pronged approach, which includes direct legal representation, impact litigation, and legal training in communities facing removal. BAJI’s approach to practicing, changing, and teaching the law has provided critical assistance to Black immigrants and achieved long-lasting impacts on immigration systems.
Read More
BAJI was founded in 2006 as a response to anti-immigrant rhetoric from the media as well as violent and oppressive anti-immigrant policies. BAJI’s work initially focused on high-level policy work and grassroots organizing work, but expanded to include a robust legal program when Legal Director, Tsion Gurmu, joined the organization. At the core, BAJI continues to work at the intersection of immigration and criminal justice. Today, BAJI’s team consists of communications, legal, and policy staff, as well as civic engagement associates and community organizers.
The legal team, which includes community paralegals and Department of Justice (DOJ) accredited representatives, undergo an extensive onboarding process. That process involves learning BAJI’s history, mission, and politics, and 2-3 weeks of legal training as well as ongoing monthly training. Every month, the team also engages in BAJI’s internal political concepts review (PCR) sessions which helps inform their radical political praxis and collectively refine their community engagement.
Narrative shift: BAJI’s legal, policy, and communications teams produce regular reports and statements that amplify the conditions of Black migrants; and connect these experiences within the context of global anti-Blackness. Its reports are accompanied by policy recommendations as a roadmap to a more just world.