One Family, One Alabama
Community organizing is when people who are treated unfairly come together to take action. By working as a group, we build power to improve our lives and neighborhoods, and to make Alabama better.
At ACIJ, we work mostly with immigrant families. We also partner with supportive friends, local business owners, churches, and other organizations.
Our work starts with building real relationships between people. It means going out to meet people where they live, helping members learn new skills and feel more confident, and creating a large movement led by the community itself.
Our goal is to work together to change unfair laws, end harmful practices, and make sure everyone gets the resources we need, regardless of where we come from or how we got here.
Our Mission
We are a group of individuals and organizations working for the rights and dignity of all people by cultivating just policies, encouraging grassroots leadership and participation, building alliances, and amplifying the voices and contributions of immigrants in Alabama.
Our Vision
We envision an Alabama that values justice, nurtures equality, and protects the rights of everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, or migratory status.
Our History
In September 2011, a wave of terror and racism swept Alabama when the state legislature passed the harshest anti-immigrant law in the country, HB56. Tea Party conservatives saw Alabama as a gateway for introducing anti-immigrant extremist laws, designed to purge the South and subsequently the rest of the nation of immigrant families through making daily life unlivable. Alabama, known for its poverty, segregation and racial violence, appeared to be the perfect laboratory for these laws, but as the legacy of Alabama’s strong Civil Rights movement has taught us, where there is oppression, there is also resistance. A movement was born.
In the decades following HB56, we are celebrating what has grown into a fierce statewide grassroots movement. Our Leadership Council represents an organized base of immigrant leadership in Alabama where previously communities were isolated and completely shut out of civic engagement. Now, our work is led by immigrants from across Alabama, primarily undocumented mothers, fathers, and children, who have joined together with African-American civil rights leaders, faith communities, southern LGBTQ communities, students, business people, lawyers, farmers, small town police chiefs, and elected officials.
Together we are building a strong coalition that represents a broad cross-section of Alabama, working collectively for immigrant justice as well as the dignity and humanity of all families. We are building a state that values justice, nurtures equality, and protects the rights of everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, or migratory status. The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) has not only permanently gutted one of the nation’s most extreme anti-immigrant laws, but we have also educated hundreds of immigrants about their rights and sent delegations of undocumented immigrant leaders to speak at regional and national conventions.
Collectively, we have accomplished tremendous victories, yet Alabama remains a battleground for the dignity and humanity of the nation. ACIJ is a key force for change and has the potential to build a transformative movement with increased support from people who understand the need for an offensive, defensive, and coordinated national strategy. Our members believe that building unity among people of color, immigrants, and a broad cross section of communities is integral to creating powerful change.
We invite you to join us in transforming Alabama, the nation, and our collective destiny.
