Our Story

About Mid-South Immigration Advocates

Our Mission

MIA is the first nonprofit law firm in the tri-state area whose core mission is to provide free and affordable immigration representation to low-income clients. Founded in 2013 by local immigration attorneys who recognized a need for quality legal services, MIA protects the most vulnerable members of our community by providing holistic, vigorous legal representation to children, survivors of violence, asylum seekers, and families at risk of deportation.

Our Values

Access to Justice

MIA focuses its resources on serving the most vulnerable communities, providing representation to people who would otherwise not have access to legal services.

Integrity and Accountability

MIA empowers its staff with the resources to maintain high standards, emphasizing impact, quality, and professional ethics in the provision of legal services.

Partnership

We are stronger together. MIA partners with community-based organizations, direct services providers, and other Mid-South agencies to maximize the impact of our services.

Secular and Nonsectarian

Immigrants’ rights are human rights. MIA serves the immigrant community of the Mid-South regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, political opinion, national origin, criminal history, or immigration status.

Sustainability

MIA makes strategic decisions regarding programming, funding, and use of resources to ensure that the organization will be able to continue its work well into the future.

Partnerships

Welcome South

Welcome South is a coalition of nonprofit law firms providing deportation defense to immigrants in the Mid-South region. Members include MIA, Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Community Legal Center’s Immigrant Justice Program. Welcome South was established in 2019 in response to the rapid increase in immigrants and asylum seekers subjected to detention and deportation in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

CasaLuz

CasaLuz empowers Memphis-area immigrant survivors to build safety, independence, and healing from the effects of violence. Through its culturally specific, trauma-informed approach, CasaLuz serves the complex needs of the Hispanic and Latinx community by providing free court advocacy, safety planning, survivor support groups, liaison assistance with law enforcement, individual counseling, community education, and order of protection assistance.

Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors

Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors provides compassionate immigration legal services to our neighbors seeking humanitarian relief. TNJFON provides free or low-cost, high-quality immigration legal services to survivors of persecution, violence, and poverty; educates the community about immigration matters; and advocates for the rights and dignity of immigrants in Tennessee.

Catholic Charities of East Tennessee

Catholic Charities of East Tennessee are a coalition of service driven community centered programs empowered by the grace of Jesus Christ. We help foster human dignity of the vulnerable in our region through shelter, counseling, education, advocacy, and reverence for life. The Office of Immigrant Services provides free and low bono immigration legal services to the immigrant and refugee communities of East Tennessee.