As immigrants sit in detention awaiting their removal hearing, they may lose their job, housing, or even custody of their children. For this reason, BIG has created the Immigration Liberation Bond Fund (ILBF), a revolving community fund to help pay bond for detained non-citizens. BIG collaborates with community partners, alumni, and other student groups in order to fundraise and determine recipients of funds. Past fundraising efforts by BIG have included Turkeygrams, bake sales, and “BIG Week,” a week-long fundraising effort that included tabling for summer pay pledges, coffee auctions with professors, and informational lunch sessions and panels that brought together community partners and previously detained individuals to share their stories and advocacy efforts with law students.

In the 2017-2018 academic year BIG raised over $11,000 which was contributed to the astronomical $25,000 bond of Hamid, a 17-year-old refugee from Afghanistan fleeing ISIS and the Taliban, who was improperly held in adult detention for over five months in Mesa Verde detention facility. ILBF and community partners–including folks at Pangea Legal Services, Faith in Action, and high school students at June Jordan School for Equity–worked tirelessly to fundraise for him, ultimately securing his freedom. Read more about the case here.

To help secure someone’s freedom, please donate to ILBF today.