Dear John,
Most of our days at NIAC do not start with a meeting or a memo. They start with an emergency.
One day last week we were contacted by the family of an elderly Iranian father—who had dutifully shown up to every ICE check-in—who was suddenly arrested and separated from his family.
Before the day was over, our team was also helping an Iranian father in ICE detention who met his newborn son for the first time on FaceTime.
And just that same week, we helped stop Iranians with credible asylum claims from being placed on a deportation flight to Tehran —only because an emergency legal filing went in just in time.
This is what a day in the life looks like for our team right now.
Every morning, we open our inbox and phones to families in crisis. And every day, we get to work—fast.
We mobilize community support around impacted families, from translation to crowdsourcing for legal funds.
We loop in Members of Congress to demand transparency and protect detainee rights.
We connect people to trusted legal resources when the clock is ticking.
And sometimes, when there’s nothing else to do in that moment, our volunteers write letters to Iranians in detention—so they know they are not alone.
This is not abstract policy work.
T his is real people. Real families. Real stakes.
And because of your support, we are showing up.
As the year comes to a close, we need to be honest with you: the need is growing, and it is likely to get worse before it gets better. ICE targeting has accelerated, and families are reaching out faster than ever.
We cannot meet this moment without additional resources—and we cannot afford to turn anyone away because we’ve hit our limit.
An end-of-year donation right now directly funds this work:
* Ensuring detained individuals can secure legal counsel, often the difference between freedom and deportation
* Engaging Congressional oversight to uphold detainee rights and medical care
* Coordinating responsible media coverage so abuses don’t happen in the dark
* Activating our 70,000-member grassroots network to raise emergency funds, pressure unresponsive offices, and provide certified translation support
* Exposing ICE’s practices through case tracking, FOIA litigation, and congressional accountability
We are currently at $123,000 raised toward a $250,000 goal.
December 31 is the deadline to ensure we can keep confronting ICE abuses, congressional inaction, and support individual families as these crises stretch into 2026.
This holiday season, Iranian families deserve to be together—not separated by detention and deportation.
Please make an end-of-year contribution today to sustain this life-saving work. DONATE TO SUPPORT THIS WORK [[link removed]] Wishing you a happy holiday, and thank you for standing with our community.In Solidarity,
Jamal Abdi NIAC President[[link removed]]unsubscribe: [link removed]