The ACBA is proud to designate the Social Justice Collaborative as our Distinguished Award Recipient for Community Organization.
The Social Justice Collaborative is a legal nonprofit 501(c)(3) agency that provides deportation and related criminal defense services to low-income non-citizens of the United States.
Social Justice Collaborative (SJC) was founded by Gautam Jagannath and Emily Abraham in late 2012 with the goal of alleviating the lack of access to direct legal services for low-income communities. From then on, SJC protected and advanced the rights of immigrants and their families through full-scope legal representation in immigration and criminal court as well as through community advocacy.
SJC have always fought for immigrants facing deportation and fleeing violence from their home countries. They represent immigrant communities by employing a “client-centered” approach to lawyering, and empowering them to make informed choices in their legal matters.
In a large number of the cases SJC handles, most of their clients are either unaccompanied minors or single women with children that are in need of representation in immigration court. SJC represents the most marginalized segment of the immigrant population.
SJC was founded with a vision — that all immigrants deserve attorneys, everyone regardless of lack of financial resources deserves full-scope legal representation, and families should not be separated only because they are undocumented.
