Our Mission
The mission of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance is to realize systemic change in the immigrant rights’ arena by engaging in impact litigation and by building the capacity of social justice attorneys to litigate in federal court.
Our Work
NILA is dedicated to championing the rights of noncitizens, or those perceived to be noncitizens, and to elevating the capacity and quality of the lawyers who represent them. Our team has more than 50 years of collective experience in litigation on behalf of immigrants’ rights, including national and regional class actions, petitions for review, habeas actions, mandamus suits, damages litigation, and litigation under the Freedom of Information Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.
Impact
Litigation
NILA’s impact litigation work includes affirmative district court litigation, including national and regional class actions, to extend the rights of noncitizens or to eliminate systemic obstacles they or their immigration counsel routinely face; transparency litigation to shed light on government policies and practices, and select amicus briefing to assist federal courts in their consideration of key legal issues.
Co-Counseling Program
NILA believes in learning by doing and that attorneys are stronger together. We understand that federal court can be daunting for newer attorneys as well as experienced attorneys filing a new type of federal case. Our program allows existing counsel to learn litigation skills while having the legal expertise and support to present the strongest case possible. To read what our co-counsel say about us, click the link below.
Strategic Assistance
Immigration law has been compared to the internal revenue code; it is complex and can be hard to navigate, even for immigration attorneys. Experienced NILA attorneys provide a range of technical assistance, including individual case analysis and answering questions related to federal court litigation procedure or strategy. To join NILA’s Strategic Assistance Program, click the link below.
Meet Our Team

Mary Kenney
DEPUTY Director

Trina Realmuto
Executive Director

Kristin
Macleod-Ball
SENIOR STAFF Attorney
Meet Our Advisory Committee
Jayashri Srikantiah
Stanford Law School
Director, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic
Associate Dean of Clinical Education
Lee Gelernt
American Civil Liberties Union
Deputy Director, Immigrants’ Rights Project
Guillermo Cantor
Vera Institute of Justice
Associate Research Director, SAFE Initiative
Matt Adams
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Legal Director
Joanne Lin
Amnesty International, National Director
Advocacy and Government Affairs
Nora A. Preciado
LOS ANGELES MAYOR ERIC
GARCETTI’S OFFICE
Director of Immigrant Affairs
Dalia Castillo-Granados
American Bar association
Director, Children’s Immigration Law Academy
Patrick Taurel
GROSSMAN YOUNG & HAMMOND
Partner
Lucy McMillan
ARNOLD & PORTER
Pro Bono Counsel
Silver Sponsors


National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Inc.
Email: info@immigrationlitigation.org
Tel: (617) 819-4649