CILA 2025 Annual Report

The Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA) is a project of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration. CILA is the only expert legal resource center focused entirely on children’s immigration matters nationwide. For over a decade, CILA has been at the forefront of children’s immigration law—tracking changes in immigration law and policy and empowering advocates working with immigrant youth. CILA builds capacity through four key services: hosting trainings, answering technical assistance questions, coordinating working groups, and creating written resources.

CILA’s 2025 Annual Report celebrates our 10-year anniversary milestone, summarizes key projects, and highlights our small but mighty team’s commitment to meet the challenges experienced by our network and beyond.

Support CILA’s Work

Like many in the immigration legal services community, CILA is facing funding uncertainty. Support CILA’s important work with a recurring or one-time donation. Learn more about CILA, read testimonials about us from advocates, and check out our previous Annual Reports to witness CILA’s far-reaching impact.

Check Out Pro Bono Opportunities

We also invite you to take a pro bono case on CILA’s Pro Bono Matters for Children Facing Deportation platform. There is a great need for pro bono attorneys and volunteers. Check locally for volunteer opportunities. Additionally, here are some ways to make meaningful change and help immigrant youth:

Stay Connected with CILA

  • Create a CILA Account: Access CILA’s resources and trainings on our website by creating a CILA account.
  • CILA Technical Assistance: CILA offers both legal technical assistance (TA) and social services TA to practitioners working with unaccompanied children nationwide. Learn more here.
  • CILA Working Groups & Listservs: CILA offers 6 working groups and 4 listservs on different topics. Check them out on our community webpage.
  • CILA Newsletters: CILA sends out two newsletters: Champions for Immigrant Youth is a monthly newsletter for practitioners in the field with updates on news, policy, litigation, and more. Pro Bono Matters is CILA’s quarterly newsletter for pro bono attorneys and those who want to learn more and follow our work.
  • CILA Social Media: We regularly post updates about CILA’s trainings, resources, and more. Follow us on Facebook: ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy and LinkedIn: ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy.