What Freedom for Immigrants does

Freedom for Immigrants is a 501(c)(3) immigrant-led, abolitionist nonprofit organization founded in 2014 (formerly operating as CIVIC) and headquartered in Oakland, California, with a Covina mailing address. The organization's mission is to abolish the U.S. immigration detention system through direct services, documentation of human rights abuses, and policy advocacy. It primarily serves currently and formerly detained immigrants, their families, movement organizers, and journalists. All services are provided free of charge; the organization is funded entirely through donations, foundation grants, and impact-investment capital.

FFI's core products include the National Immigration Detention Hotline (accessible to detained individuals via 9233# and to outside supporters via a separate line operating Tue-Thu 10am-8pm PT), an Interactive Detention Map tracking more than 200 U.S. detention facilities, a real-time Resource Directory for legal and community support, Project Keep Away (preventing prison-to-ICE transfers), the FFI Commissary Fund, and Monitoring & Investigations programs. Underlying technology consists of a web-based mapping tool, a searchable resource directory, and an internal documentation database for systemic abuse patterns. FFI has co-published investigative reports with Human Rights Watch and files federal civil rights complaints directly with DHS.

The organization's revenue model is donations and fundraising — no fees are charged for any service. Distribution occurs via direct-service channels (hotline, website), coalition partnerships with 40+ advocacy organizations, and earned media. FFI received $1,012,500 from Mission Driven Finance in July 2023 and has been supported by foundations including GCIR and the 1 in 4 Research-Movement Network. In March 2026, FFI merged Dr. A.J. Kim's (San Diego State University) Detention Tracker dataset into its Interactive Detention Map. Following a 2024 leadership transition and 'chrysalis' restructuring, FFI released a new mission and 2025-2027 Strategic Plan in September 2024.

Name

Freedom for Immigrants

Legal name

Freedom for Immigrants

Website

https://freedomforimmigrants.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Freedom for Immigrants is a 501(c)(3) immigrant-led abolitionist nonprofit that provides free direct services — including a national detention hotline, an interactive map of 200+ facilities, and legal advocacy — to currently and formerly detained immigrants, their families, and movement organizers in the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immigration Detention Abolition Advocacy

akta.pro primary industry

Immigrant & Refugee Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Access & Online Government Services for Immigrants (EDAAADAF), Community Corrections (Probation, Parole & Reentry) (BPAIAFAE), Refugee Reception & Registration (BPADAHAA)

Keywords

• Immigrant rights advocacy
• Immigration detention monitoring
• Immigrant legal services
• Nonprofit abolition services
• Detained immigrant support

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Freedom for Immigrants operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded primarily through donations from individuals, foundations, and supporters. The organization conducts annual appeals and accepts donations through its website portal (freedomforimmigrants.app.neoncrm.com).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Freedom for Immigrants (formerly CIVIC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that abolishes immigration detention through a National Immigration Detention Hotline, an interactive Detention Map of U.S. detention facilities, a national Resource Directory, in-person monitoring and investigations of facilities, civil rights complaint assistance, policy advocacy, the Project Keep Away bail-bond prevention program, and the FFI Commissary Fund supporting detained individuals.

Product overview

Freedom for Immigrants is an abolitionist nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) offering a suite of programs focused on ending immigration detention. Its core products include the National Immigration Detention Hotline (a toll-free service for detained individuals), the Interactive Detention Map (tracking 200+ facilities nationwide), and Project Keep Away (preventing prison-to-ICE transfers). Additional offerings encompass monitoring and investigations of detention conditions, civil rights complaint filing, policy advocacy, narrative change work, and a commissary fund. The organization also provides extensive resource directories for immigrants, advocates, and journalists, alongside publications and detention statistics tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• National Immigration Detention Hotline 24/7 free, multilingual direct support hotline serving individuals in U.S. immigration detention and their families, providing information, referrals, and case support.
• Interactive Detention Map Interactive web-based map of U.S. immigration detention facilities with address search and map/satellite views, helping users locate where a loved one is being held.
• National Resource Directory Online directory of vetted immigration-related resources, including legal services and support for detained immigrants and their families.
• Project Keep Away Program that supports community-based alternatives and frontline interventions to prevent immigrant detention, including bail-bond prevention support.
• FFI Commissary Fund Program enabling donors to send commissary funds directly to individuals held in U.S. immigration detention to support basic needs.
• Monitoring & Investigations In-person monitoring and investigations of U.S. immigration detention conditions, producing public reports on medical neglect, sexual assault, hunger strikes, visitation denials, and bias-motivated incidents.
• Civil Rights Complaints Assistance Support service that helps detained immigrants and their families file civil rights complaints, including Office of Inspector General (OIG) complaints, about detention conditions and abuse.
• Policy Advocacy Policy and legislative advocacy program working to abolish immigration detention through federal, state, and local advocacy efforts.
• Narrative & Culture Change Work Program focused on narrative and culture change initiatives to reshape public discourse around immigration detention and immigrant communities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Interactive detention map tracking over 200 facilities to support families and organizers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Dr. A.J. Kim, San Diego State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2026Freedom for Immigrants partnered with Dr. A.J. Kim, Associate Professor of City Planning at San Diego State University, to merge Dr. Kim's Detention Tracker with FFI's interactive detention map. This collaboration aims to provide a more robust overview of the detention system, particularly with regard to tracking the total number of people detained at each detention site.
• 1 in 4 Research-Movement NetworksupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe 1 in 4 Research-Movement Network provided funding support for the detention map collaboration and merger project.
• Free Them All VA CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA coalition of over 40 local and national organizations working to end immigration incarceration and build a state where all Virginians are free. FFI co-signed statements and works jointly on advocacy campaigns including demands for closure of Farmville Detention Center.
• La ColectiVAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAn inclusive, abolitionist collaborative led by Latinx community members committed to upholding social justice and equity. Partners with FFI on Virginia immigration detention advocacy.
• Southeast Dignity Not Detention CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA coalition of local and national organizations committed to advancing immigrants' rights through legal and community support services. FFI is a steering member and works on joint advocacy for closure of detention facilities including Pine Prairie and Winn.
• Human Rights WatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFFI co-published a 103-page report 'Systemic Indifference: Dangerous & Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention' with Human Rights Watch in May 2017, documenting substandard medical care in immigration detention facilities.
• Transgender Law CentersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Transgender Law Center was involved in advocacy related to detention center access and legal intake sessions, particularly for transgender immigrants facing discrimination and violence.
• National Immigration ProjectsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerA membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members working to ensure people can live freely and flourish. Co-signed Farmville advocacy statements with FFI.
• Detention Watch NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA national network working to expose and end immigration detention. FFI collaborates on campaigns including the Communities Not Cages National Day of Action and other joint advocacy efforts.
• El RefugiosupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerEl Refugio accompanies immigrants at Stewart Detention Center and their loved ones through hospitality, visitation, support, and advocacy. Partnered with FFI on advocacy for detained immigrants at Stewart.
• Southern Poverty Law CentersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPLC joined FFI's federal civil rights complaint calling for investigation into ICE stakeholder tour and visitation denials and restrictions.
• Robert F. Kennedy Human RightssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerRFK Human Rights is a member of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition and collaborated on advocacy for closure of Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center.
• Cameroonian American CouncilsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAC joined FFI in filing a federal complaint detailing violence and racism against Black immigrants at Pine Prairie, including chokeholds and threats of solitary confinement.
• ISLA Immigration Services and Legal AdvocacysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerISLA joined FFI and other organizations in filing federal complaints about violence and abuse at Pine Prairie detention center.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• National Immigration Law Center (NILC): Leading national advocacy organization for low-income immigrants. Both FFI and NILC pursue policy advocacy, litigation support, and immigrant rights protection at the federal level, though NILC skews more legal/policy and FFI skews more detention-direct-service.
• National Immigration Project: Membership organization of immigration attorneys, advocates, and community members. National Immigration Project co-signs FFI advocacy statements and shares a focus on ending immigration detention through legal and community-based strategies, overlapping with FFI's bond/parole denial and abolition work.
• Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights: Human rights organization actively collaborating with FFI on Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center closure advocacy. RFK Human Rights brings litigation and federal advocacy capacity that complements FFI's detention monitoring, with overlapping goals on ending abusive detention practices.
• United We Dream: Largest immigrant youth-led network in the U.S. Both FFI and United We Dream organize alongside directly impacted people and pursue immigrant rights advocacy, though United We Dream focuses more on DACA recipients and youth while FFI focuses on detained adults.
• Detention Watch Network: National coalition that exposes and ends the U.S. immigration detention system. FFI is an active coalition partner and both organizations focus on detention monitoring, advocacy, and abolition — overlapping in mission, target population, and coalition strategy.
• RAICES: Texas-based nonprofit providing legal services and advocacy for immigrant families, including detained individuals. RAICES runs the largest immigration legal services program in Texas and shares FFI's focus on detained immigrants, though primarily through legal representation rather than hotline/advocacy.

Emerging players

• El Refugio: Stewart Detention Center-focused hospitality and visitation nonprofit for detained immigrants and families. El Refugio partners with FFI on advocacy and shares detention-visitor service overlap, but operates as a smaller facility-specific organization rather than a national advocacy platform.

Broad incumbents

• Human Rights Watch: International human rights organization that co-published FFI's 103-page medical neglect report. HRW brings global research infrastructure and credibility to detention oversight work that overlaps with FFI's monitoring and investigations, but at vastly larger scale and broader thematic scope.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Civil rights organization with deep immigrant justice portfolio. SPLC has joined FFI on federal civil rights complaints and shares overlap in detention oversight, immigrant advocacy, and policy litigation, though SPLC operates across a far broader civil rights mandate.
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Large civil liberties organization with significant immigrant rights litigation portfolio. ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project files impact litigation against detention conditions overlapping with FFI's civil rights complaints work, but operates at much larger scale across all civil liberties issues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCXaD2L_Q-U
• Facebookfacebook.com/FreedomforImmigrants
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freedom-for-immigrants
• Instagraminstagram.com/freedomforimmigrants
• Xx.com/migrantfreedom

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Freedom for Immigrants