Immigration Court Community Oversight Project (ICCOP)

Immigrant and refugee support

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Applying a proven solution to a new issue or sector (using an existing model, tool, resource, strategy, etc. for a new purpose)

With thousands of people cycling through immigration proceedings in Los Angeles each year, the immigration court system has become an engine of mass incarceration, surveillance and deportation. Immigration judges wield extraordinary power over life-altering decisions. In recent months, those decisions have not only fueled unprecedented family separation, but have also exiled individuals into deadly mega prisons abroad. These judges operate with minimal transparency or accountability, even when they violate ethical or legal standards. Immigration judges routinely deny asylum, overuse detention, and disregard due process, even when alternatives exist. Unlike state courts, immigration judges are appointed, not elected, leaving community observation and reporting as one of the only mechanisms for oversight.

We are the only organization focused on judicial oversight in LA, and we understand that our justice reform ecosystem has to challenge judicial power in order to disrupt the over-criminalization of Black and Brown people. We launched Rate My Judge (RMJ) and Court Watch LA (CWLA) in state courts to address this critical gap. RMJ is a platform for community members and legal practitioners to anonymously report their experiences with specific judges. It is complemented by CWLA, a community power model that trains volunteers to observe court proceedings and report this data to the public. Built on this foundation, the Immigration Court Community Oversight Project (ICCOP) partners with local immigrant rights organizations to expand our programs into immigration courts. The vision for this project is to (1) equip organizations with data that supports advocacy, (2) create momentum to expose bad judges, (3) educate the public on the immigration court experience, and (4) generate narrative change. By documenting patterns of bias and procedural violations, we produce data that can be leveraged by advocates. Our findings are shared with policymakers, legal advocates, and immigrant rights partners to push for greater transparency, oversight, and due process protections. Additionally, by empowering the community with knowledge of judicial trends and courtroom advocacy strategies, we build long-term capacity to challenge unfair judicial rulings and push for broader structural reforms.

ICCOP generates tangible data on judicial behavior, equipping legal advocates and policymakers with the resources to expose judicial misconduct and abuse of power in immigration courts. Although Los Angeles has been declared a “sanctuary city” for migrants, the rogue federal courts continue to supersede the power of local policies. We know that public exposure builds pressure for policy interventions, accountability measures, and systemic reforms that ensure due process protections. By documenting and publicizing judicial behavior, we create a long-term foundation for shifting immigration court culture toward greater fairness and transparency.
ICCOP launched through the participation of students in local colleges and law clinics, and will expand to community volunteers by the end of 2025. Understanding that the immigration cases of LA residents are also heard before judges outside of LA, we plan to expand this model across the Southern CA region by partnering with local organizations.