Introducing Florida Immigration Coalition’s Members who are the core of our movements
FLIC Members
We are one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO and are the heart of the labor movement. We are democratically elected bodies dedicated to represent the interests of working people at the state and local levels. We mobilize our members and community partners to advocate for social and economic justice and we strive daily to vanquish oppression and make our communities better for all people—regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin. We are one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO and are the heart of the labor movement. We are democratically elected bodies dedicated to represent the interests of working people at the state and local levels. We mobilize our members and community partners to advocate for social and economic justice and we strive daily to vanquish oppression and make our communities better for all people—regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin.
We are one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO and are the heart of the labor movement. We are democratically elected bodies dedicated to represent the interests of working people at the state and local levels. We mobilize our members and community partners to advocate for social and economic justice and we strive daily to vanquish oppression and make our communities better for all people—regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is an international Nobel Peace Prize laureate Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Our program in Florida is a community-based, youth-led and staff supported. Our members are Indigenous, Black, and mixed immigrants from Latin American & the Caribbean from farmworker families. Our mission is for youth voices to be heard- in the schools, streets, fields, and in the halls of power. Our activities include community organizing, grassroots advocacy, artivism, agroecology and leading social justice campaigns focused on immigrant, Black, Indigenous, farmworkers, and queer issues.
From the break of dawn on Miami’s shores to well after the sun sets across Pensacola’s beaches, the hardworking men and women of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) make Florida happen. From Collier County to Clay County, the home of America’s first settlement in St. Augustine to mile marker zero in Key West, our members can be found providing the vital services to make the lives of citizens across the Sunshine State better through a shared commitment to public service. As Florida’s fastest-growing union, we are a proud part of a national union that advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and opportunity for all working families.
AI Justice is an award-winning non-profit law and advocacy firm that protects and promotes the basic human rights of immigrants. In Florida and on a national level, we champion the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children; advocate for survivors of trafficking and domestic violence; serve as a watchdog on immigration detention practices and policies, and speak for immigrant groups who have particular and compelling claims to justice.
The Asian American Federation of Florida (AAFF) is a 501(c)(3) coalition that aims to foster unity and collaboration among the various Asian Pacific American organizations and to improve the relationship of a culturally diverse Asian Pacific American community in Florida. The AAFF is a statewide organization made up of more than 70 Bangladesh, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Iranian, Korean, Laotian, Taiwanese, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese faith-based and community-based organizations, businesses, and media.
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action South Florida, founded in 2018, is a volunteer-led Moral Minyan mobilizing our community to resist, show up in solidarity, and win power for our progressive vision of a country that lives up to our values of justice and equality for all.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a federation of legally independent, governed, and managed chapters across the country that work together to defend the Civil Liberties of Americans. CAIR National is the founding organization and has its own Board of Directors, as do each of the chapters across the country. All of the CAIR chapters’ board members, employees, and volunteers represent the diversity of the American Muslim community.
Central Florida Jobs with Justice believes that all workers should have collective bargaining rights, employment security, and a decent standard of living within an economy that works for everyone. To fight for justice, we form long-term relationships and formal partnerships between labor unions, people of faith, community organizations, and student activists based on shared values.
Centro Campesino is a Community Development Corporation that strengthens families in Central and South Florida. We do this by providing opportunities to access affordable housing, homeownership support, economic advancement and educational and leadership development.
Centro Campesino was formed in 1972 as a farmworker advocacy organization in response to the deplorable living conditions of farmworkers and other low-income families in South Florida. Since then, Centro Campesino has constructed over 500 single family homes for low income families, 130 affordable rental units, and rehabilitated more than 6,000 homes for rural low-income families in eleven Florida counties.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is a worker-based human rights organization internationally recognized for its achievements in fighting human trafficking and gender-based violence at work. The CIW is also recognized for pioneering the design and development of the Worker-driven Social Responsibility paradigm, a worker-led, market-enforced approach to the protection of human rights in corporate supply chains.
We are community lawyers. In our legal work, we collaborate closely with community organizers and grassroots groups in low-income communities of color because we believe that a more democratic, more just and more equal society can only truly come about through grassroots organizing and social movement. We are a part of that social movement in South Florida and strive to support organizing through our varied and often innovative legal work.
We educate and empower Muslim Americans through educational events, voter initiatives, and leadership development for the purpose of creating a community of knowledgeable, motivated, and impactful citizens. Our core programs focus on voter engagement, leadership development, and data analysis. From registering voters to hosting town halls to educating voters on how to effectively engage elected officials on important policy issues, Emgage seeks to transform the Muslim American electorate into an active and impactful community.
Founded in 2009 and launched in 2013, Enterprising Latinas, Inc. (ELI) is a non-prot tax-exempt 501(C) 3 organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of low-income Hispanic women in Tampa Bay. In partnership with local, state and national organizations, ELI opens new pathways of economic opportunities by: creating networks of mutual support, teaching new skills, and offering new tools, and advocating for innovative service.
FANM’s vision is to be a leader in creating sustainable communities/villages where thriving families can raise well-rounded children in peace and harmony. FANM is located in the heart of Little Haiti. FANM has been a major catalyst for addressing issues that affect low income and immigrant families in South Florida. FANM has a long-standing commitment to meeting the needs of low to moderate-income families and children since 1991 through counseling, wrap-around services, access to health care, community outreach/ education, job training/economic development, financial literacy, organizing & advocacy services.
The Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF) is a statewide, grassroots, community-based, non-profit, farmworker membership organization with over 10,000 Haitian, Hispanic, and African American members and five offices in the state of Florida with a 35-year history of working for social and environmental justice with farmworkers.
Established in May 2018, Florida Asian Services is dedicated to advance the civic and political participation and empowerment among the Asian community and beyond in Florida. We provide comprehensive citizenship and civic education services, nonpartisan voter mobilization and education, community services, and outreach.
Florida Legal Services is a statewide leader in advancing economic, social, and racial justice. We advocate for poor, vulnerable, and hard to reach people through impact litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, education, and strategic partnerships.
As Florida Rising, we organize multi-racial movements to win elections, change laws, and create a state where everyone can be safe, happy, healthy and whole.
We’re a people-powered organization made up of members advancing economic and racial justice across Florida. Every individual has power but we have more power together.
Our mission is to harness the power of students and youth to create tangible change in our communities and our country. We conduct and support issue-driven campaigns, organize voters, and use creative tactics to engage our generation and organize our collective power for justice.
We are immigrant youth of intersectional identities across Florida fighting for our liberation and power. This is a collective community of powerful Immigrant youth sharing resources and strategizing for the needs of our communities.
In 2014, after speaking with several houseless people, a couple of Lake Worth folks decided to start a local chapter of Food Not Bombs. Food was rescued from different locations, prepared in a humble home kitchen, and delivered to the park in bikes. Each week it grew bigger and better. Eventually, contacts were made with gourmet restaurants, organic farms, and even an industrial kitchen; this allowed us to share quality food in large quantities in an efficient manner. Rain or shine, we used to serve at Bryant Park every Monday for 3+ years.
FWD.us is a bipartisan political organization that believes America’s families, communities, and economy thrive when more individuals are able to achieve their full potential. For too long, our harmful immigration and criminal justice systems have locked too many people out from the American dream.
In the 1980s, at the height of the Guatemalan genocide, many indigenous migrant workers were facing harassment from employers while struggling to find their place in a new home. The founders of the Guatemalan-Maya Center lobbied and advocated for the migrant community, gaining numerous victories throughout the past three decades, including securing special agricultural work visas for nearly 1,000,000 people.
The Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida serves as a strong non-profit organization whose mission is to promote investment and trade with the Haitian private and public business sectors. We serve as a resource for our members, partners, and affiliates. Our membership provides you with benefits; conferences, workshops, and networking events to create business opportunities, partnerships, and economic development. HACCOF promotes the personal and business growth of all our members. We believe there’s strength in unity.
Hope CommUnity Center is a service-learning community dedicated to the empowerment of Central Florida’s immigrant and working poor communities through Education, Advocacy, and Spiritual Growth. We exist to serve and cultivate self-determined communities through personal, social, and communal transformation. Our vision is to be the premier center of hope and empowerment for Central Florida’s immigrant and working poor communities.
Formerly known as Friends of Miami Dade Detainees, our mission has expanded far beyond visiting people in detention in Miami-Dade County alone. We are now providing direct support to our local immigrant community and people in ICE detention camps throughout the state of Florida (and sometimes beyond). In addition, we acknowledge that people are NOT defined by their incarceration, as the word “detainee” suggests, and are excited to move forward with a new name that is both inclusive and empowering.
As Immigrant Action Alliance, we will continue to operate our (now virtual due to COVID-19) visitation services at Krome Service Processing Center in Miami, Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, and Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven. We will also continue to provide support and advocacy to friends who have been transferred to other detention centers in North Florida such as Baker and Wakulla County Jails. We also continue to offer support with clothing, transportation, and emergency shelter and funds for people who are released or deported. We continue to monitor and support through the Miramar Circle of Protection, and our own Dr. Peggy Mustelier continues to host a weekly support group for people impacted by the deportation machine.
We raise awareness of issues that directly impact and affect immigrants in the Florida Keys. We fight for the dignity, safety, and inclusion of immigrants in our community. Working for justice and human rights for all of our residents, we hold our institutions accountable for fair treatment to the most vulnerable.”
The purpose of Lambda Theta Alpha shall be to provide a sisterhood based on unity, love, and respect in an effort to foster the development of strong leaders who will then provide and practice political, social, and cultural activities. It shall also be the purpose of Lambda Theta Alpha to promote unity through charitable and educational programs, maintain a higher standard of learning and serve as a voice for all students.
The Latin American Coalition is a statewide 501(c)(3), non-profit organization mainly centered in the Treasure Coast area of southeast Florida, which aims to educate the local immigrant population and inform immigrants about issues that affect them in the community, through radio and word of mouth.
The Miami Workers Center (MWC) is a strategy and action center whose purpose is to build the power and self-determination of south Florida’s most oppressed communities, and help to build a progressive voice and platform that can nurture the growth of movements for social change in Florida and in the United States. We employ an intersectional approach linking gender, race, and socio-economic status across our analysis and programs.
The Latina Institute strives for Latina/x people to live with dignity and authenticity about our sexualities and genders. Driven by a reproductive justice framework, we build power in Latina/x communities to exercise autonomy over our bodies and secure equal access to reproductive health as a human right. We elevate Latina/x leaders, mobilize our families and communities, transform the cultural narrative, and catalyze policy change.
Educate, Stabilize, Engage.
OCJ is a non-profit law firm and an organization of community lawyers. After hearing private attorneys having to turn away individuals who could not afford private representation and having almost nowhere to refer them and seeing a legal aid organization having to wind down and close their doors leaving a void in the community it previously served, three women frustrated by seeing clients alone in court decided our city could be the home to a solution. With the support of a team of community attorneys willing to serve on our board, OCJ was born. Our goal was to create a system that would help to keep our doors open even if funding was reduced and help close the access to justice gap in Florida. Now we hope we can inspire future lawyers to do the same.
We are working locally to build a diverse, politically-conscious coalition to organize and build a powerful base of people who will be able to lead and mobilize responses to the issues that immigrants face, educate our community about the misconceptions and contributions of immigrants in the US, and influence public policy. We do this through three working subcommittees: Protection, Education, and Legislation. We are most proud of being part of the 10,000 people immigrant march in Lake Worth in 2006, the creation of a Comité de Defensa de Barrio after an immigration raid in 2010, and the mass mobilizations to Tallahassee to fight anti-immigrant bills in 2011.
We advocate that all people who approach our borders receive humane, compassionate, just, and dignified treatment – whether asylum seekers, refugees, or those in search of a better life.
Our mission is to build electoral and community inclusiveness in our democracy to ensure lasting dignity and respect for our Latinx community. We work to build a presence that puts our community needs first with elected and influential entities and leaders when policies have created that impact our community.
QLatinx was founded in response to the mass shooting and act of hate that occurred on June 12, 2016 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, during the LGBTQ+ establishment’s Latinx themed night, that robbed our community of 49 lives and left many more physically and psychologically wounded. QLatinx brought together members of the local community directly and deeply impacted by this tragedy to build a supportive infrastructure, address inequity, and promote inclusionary practices for local leadership and partnering agencies.
The Redlands Christian Migrant Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, non-sectarian voluntary organization, which focuses on the well-being and care of impoverished immigrant’s children all throughout the state of Florida. RCMA provides high-quality childcare and early education for children of migrant farmworkers and other rural, low-income families. Programs include Head Start, Migrant Head Start, and before and after-school activities in 21 Florida Counties. In addition, we involved parents by encouraging their civic participation, through voting and working for the organization through their own committees and associations.
The Rural Women’s Health Project (RWHP) holds a unique position as the only health justice organization in North Florida. Our mission is to use evidence-based strategies to build sustainable and replicable community programs and policies to strengthen communities’ capacity to overcome health and social justice barriers. Founded in 1991, the RWHP involves communities in the development and implementation of research findings. We seek to build the capacity of emerging leaders, create advocacy opportunities, build coalitions, and improve linkage to health-protective services.
Sachamama is a Miami-based organization building support for a 100% clean-energy economy for all, with a specific emphasis on developing sustainable attitudes, behaviors & lifestyles within Latino communities. We develop culturally sensitive strategies to provide the Latino community with the needed tools to become a political force for climate action. We focus on three goals: increasing media coverage on climate issues, accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy, and creating a new generation of climate activists.
SEIU Florida Public Services Union represents 20,000 workers in eight counties, 16 cities, four school districts, and seven public colleges and universities across Florida.
We Work for the People
Millions of people across Florida depend on us for their safety, health, education, child care and other vital services that help build safe and healthy communities. SEIU Florida Public Services Union members are the driving force behind reliable public services and the voice of public employees throughout Florida. As a statewide union, we use our collective voice and resources to face challenges such as improving the quality and reliability of the services we provide with constantly shrinking budgets, revenue cuts, privatization, downsizing and the rising cost of living and housing across the state.
At 1199SEIU Florida, we represent more than 25,000 healthcare employees —from nurses to clerical employees — working in the hospital and nursing home industry. We work in some of the largest for-profit and academic healthcare institutions in the state and are constantly working to achieve affordable, high-quality healthcare for all. Our members have a rich history of striving to transform lives by empowering our communities to stand for justice, dignity, and respect for everyone.
We are 32BJ’s smallest district, with 1500 members in the Miami area, but we don’t shy away from the fight to make our jobs better or our communities stronger. We have helped raise the living wage rate in Miami Beach. Security officers, office cleaners, and food service workers have organized and joined our ranks. Next stop: organizing airport workers.
SEIU Healthcare Florida Local 1991 is the exclusive bargaining representative for the 5,000 registered nurses, attending physicians, and healthcare professionals in the Jackson Health System. Since SEIU Local 1991 was chartered in 1991, we have negotiated some of the best wages and working conditions in the United States for our members. We are proud to have one of the few contracts in the nation with a guaranteed 40-hour workweek as well as a full-time 36-hour workweek. We recently negotiated into our contract a rare and coveted provision requiring a nurse-to-patients staffing ratios policy at Jackson.
The SPLC stands up for the powerless, the exploited, and other victims of discrimination and hate. For more than four decades, we’ve won landmark cases that brought systemic reforms in the Deep South. We’ve toppled remnants of Jim Crow segregation and destroyed violent white supremacist groups. We’ve shattered barriers to equality for women, vulnerable children, the LGBT community, and the disabled. We’ve protected migrant workers and immigrants from abuse ensured the humane treatment of prisoners, reformed juvenile justice practices, and more.
S.W.E.R. is an organization founded by undocumented immigrant youth for the liberation of the oppressed. We work to raise awareness in our communities about social justice and equal access to education by means of grassroots organizing, political education, alliance building, nonviolent direct action, and civic engagement. The values that inspire our actions are personal growth, youth leadership, and achieving justice and equality through the power of solidarity.
Unitarian Universalists have a legacy of “deeds not creeds.” Our work for a better world calls us to unexpected places as we harness love’s power to stop oppression. From grassroots community organizing to interfaith state, national, and corporate advocacy; in protest marches, prayer vigils, and press conferences; in homeless shelters and in prisons, Unitarian Universalists put our faith into action. Just as love knows no borders, our dedication to justice reaches across boundaries and walls.
We are a liberal religious community: that provides a safe space for spiritual and ethical exploration, education, discourse, and dialogue; respects human diversity, dignity, and rights; pursues personal and world peace; and promotes the protection of natural resources of the world.
UNITE HERE is a labor union that represents 300,000 working people across Canada and the United States. Our members work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries. Our membership is diverse. We are predominantly women and people of color, and we hail from all corners of the planet. Together, we are building a movement to enable people of all backgrounds to achieve greater equality and opportunity.
UNITE HERE is a labor union that represents 300,000 working people across Canada and the United States. Our members work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries. Our membership is diverse. We are predominantly women and people of color, and we hail from all corners of the planet. Together, we are building a movement to enable people of all backgrounds to achieve greater equality and opportunity.
WeCount! is a statewide 501(c)(3), non-profit organization working mainly from the Homestead. We represent and defend the rights of immigrants, students, and working people of the area. WeCount!’s members are Latino/a, Mayan, and Haitian immigrant workers, working families, and youth. Our members are retirees and those working in: plant nurseries and farms, landscaping, construction, tourism, housekeeping, and industrial shops. They include families and recent immigrants separated from their families in their home countries. We work to achieve social and economic justice by bringing multi-ethnic immigrants, students, and working people together to inform themselves about their rights, support each other, develop their leadership, and take action to improve their lives.
Women’s March Florida is 501(c)4 non-profit made up of volunteers from across the state. We are united by our desire to combat oppression through a unified voice, championing respect, and equality for all. We aim to empower new activists & organizers, to educate our members across a diverse range of issues, and to activate one another to stay in the fight for long-term change and solutions.
YAYA is a network of young people actively working to change the oppressive social, political, and economic conditions faced by farmworkers in the United States. Inspired by the principles of nonviolence of the farmworker movement, YAYAs support a variety of national and local campaigns led by farmworkers. These campaigns seek to improve the oppressive conditions faced by the workers who harvest our food.
Promote, facilitate, advocate for positive human development, to protect families, and young people of low income, empower refugees, immigrants through education, healthcare access, sport, music and art opportunities.
State Partners
Non-Partisan Civic Engagement in Florida and Path to Power Leadership Development
Non-Partisan Civic Engagement
National Partners
Transnational focus (Latin America) / Defend TPS/DACA/CAM/ Protecting Unaccompanied Minors and refugees from Central America / Stopping Deportations.
BAJI educates and engages African American and black immigrant communities to organize and advocate for racial, social and economic justice. Local BAJI Organizing Committees in New York, Georgia, California and Arizona build coalitions and initiate campaigns among communities to push for racial justice. At the local and regional level, BAJI provides training and technical assistance to partner organizations to develop leadership skills, works with faith communities to harness their prophetic voice, and initiates vibrant dialogues with African Americans and black immigrants to discover more about race, our diverse identities, racism, migration and globalization. BAJI’s flagship project is the Black Immigration Network (BIN), a national alliance that brings together black-led organizations and programs to advance just immigration policies and promote cultural shifts our communities need. The BIN kinship provides a safe, communal space for diverse black communities to connect, engage and advocate for equality and justice for all.
Fight against mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex / Ending Immigrant Detention.
Immigration Reform / Alliance for Citizenship A4C campaigns / Non Partisan Civic Engagement / Defend TPS/DACA.
Grassroots feminism/Just transition/Anti-War, militarism and incarceration.
Naturalization and immigrant integration.
Workers rights and Women rights.
Naturalization and barriers to citizenship.
Immigration Reform / Stopping Deportations / Building a new South / Defend TPS/DACA.
Youth leadership/Stopping Deportations/Pathway to citizenship for all.
Local Partners
We are grassroots, community-based, youth-led and staff supported, membership organization in Homestead, FL. It is composed of Indigenous, Black, and Latinx immigrant youth working together to defend their communities from climate chaos and anti-immigrant policies through organizing, leadership development and art. Our work showcases the joy and power of young people who come from a long legacy of intergenerational leadership, grounded in culture, and sustainable food systems.
**FLIC is present in Steering Committee / FLIC esta presente en el comite directivo