California Small Business Immigration Resources | Know Your Rights & Legal Help

This webinar recording hosted by Small Business Majority, CAMEO, Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative, and Public Counsel focuses on immigration-related issues affecting small business owners, employers, and immigrant entrepreneurs. It covers key legal rights related to immigration enforcement, and highlight a collection of South Bay resources and grants to help your business.

The California Immigrant Policy Center resource page provides a statewide directory of rapid response networks, helping individuals connect to local support during immigration enforcement actions. It also includes Know Your Rights materials focused on community awareness and family preparedness.

Other languages: Links to multilingual resources

The Immigrant Defense Project toolkit offers multilingual resources that explain what to do if ICE enters your home, car or business, including easy-to-use flyers, infographics and booklets. It also provides guidance on safely documenting an ICE interaction or arrest for legal support and accountability.

Additional languages: Spanish

This webpage allows individuals and organizations to order Know Your Rights Red Cards in multiple languages. The cards are designed to help people assert their constitutional rights during interactions with immigration agents and include language that can be shown to ICE officers to communicate that the individual is exercising their rights.

Other languages: Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese

Compiled by GO-Biz, this resource guide curates trainings, fact sheets, videos, and practical tools for employers on immigration-related workplace issues, including I-9 audits, enforcement response, California labor protections, and resources to support immigrant workers and their families.

Other languages: Spanish

Created by the California Department of Industrial Relations, this resource outlines important workplace rights for California workers, including immigration-related protections, retaliation protections, rights when interacting with law enforcement, and where to go for help if rights have been violated.

Created by Public Counsel, this resource offers customizable templates for small businesses developing internal policies on immigration enforcement, including staff response roles, warrant and entry protocols, documentation procedures, and sample notices for private property.

Created by Public Counsel, this practical guide outlines what small business owners should know about immigration enforcement, including workplace response protocols, I-9 audits, warrants and subpoenas, written policy planning, and documentation tips.

Created by Public Counsel, this resource helps employers understand their responsibilities around work authorization, including Form I-9 compliance, re-verification rules, ICE audits, and key considerations for contractors and collectives.

Hand in Hand’s Domestic Workers Guide provides guidance on how employers can support domestic workers in their staff. 

Other languages: Spanish

The National Immigration Law Center’s guide provides practical advice for addressing immigration-related actions in the workplace.

Other languages: Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Thai

ImmDef’s KYR toolkit contains a variety of different materials and resources such as pro bono legal services and rapid response hotlines in California.

Other languages: Spanish

ImmDef is a social justice law firm providing free, high-quality legal representation and advocacy to immigrants and refugees in Southern California.

CHIRLA’s removal defense team offers legal representation for both detained and non-detained immigrants, working to prevent deportation and reunite families. It focuses on those who are currently facing deportation.

Other languages: Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, Russian, French, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Pashto

CRLF offers high-quality, pro bono removal defense services to individuals before the San Francisco and Sacramento immigration courts, including advice and counsel, educational workshops and legal representation.

The CDSS provides a directory of immigration legal service contractors, primarily nonprofit organizations that offer consultations and direct legal assistance to immigrants across California.

Other languages: Multiple languages through Google translate

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) provides free legal assistance, workshops and “Know Your Rights” information for low-income individuals in LA County. Key focus areas include immigration, housing/evictions, public benefits and worker rights.

Other languages: Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Khmer, Vietnamese, Thai, Farsi, Dari, Arabic, Russian, Filipino, Armenian, Bangla

The International Institute of Los Angeles (IILA) provides “Know Your Rights” training to help immigrants and refugees protect themselves against ICE detention and deportation, with specific resources for navigating interactions at home, work or in public.

The governor’s office recently released fact sheets that provide additional information on SB 294, the Immigrant Worker Protection Act and other Know Your Rights resources.

Other languages: Spanish and more with google translate

Public Counsel is the nation's largest pro bono law firm, specializing in providing free legal services, education and advocacy for low-income individuals, children and communities.

Other languages: Spanish

The County of Sonoma recently established an ad hoc committee to develop strategies and recommendations for the full Board of Supervisors on how to support, protect and empower immigrant residents.

The organization’s Migrant Justice in Action (MiJA) initiative mobilizes an emergency response network, serves as witnesses to immigration enforcement actions, upholds the rights of immigrants and provides services to affected North Bay residents.

Other languages: Spanish

This center helps manage the Marin Rapid Response Network, which provides a way to respond to fear and anxiety in the community as a result of increased immigration enforcement, ICE actions and other attacks against immigrant communities in Marin County.

Other languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Haitian Creole, French, Filipino, Chinese, Arabic, Afrikaans

The County of Marin has partnered with the Marin County Office of Education and Immigrant Legal Defense to provide free immigration legal services to families and students in Marin County. Services include legal screenings, representation and removal defense.

Other languages: Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Filipino, Vietnamese

The Canal Alliance is a San Rafael-based nonprofit, founded in 1982, that champions immigrants in Marin County by offering Know Your Rights educational materials and workshops that give individuals the tools to protect themselves, their families and their communities.

Other languages: Spanish

The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) is a nonprofit that advocates for, empowers and defends detained immigrants and their communities by providing Know Your Rights resources, coordinating Rapid Response networks, legal support and direct action against ICE detention.

Other languages: Spanish

ACILEP is a collaborative of community-based organizations, legal advocates and the Alameda County public defender that provides rapid response, legal representation and education to protect undocumented immigrants from detention and deportation.

The Immigration Representation Unit provides deportation defense and legal representation for immigrants facing or at risk of removal from the United States. Its work includes advocacy in immigration and federal courts.

The San Francisco public defender is an elected office that provides free, high-quality legal representation to individuals in San Francisco who cannot afford a private attorney.

ILD is an Oakland-based organization providing free, high-quality legal representation to underserved immigrant communities, including direct representation in immigration courts (EOIR), before USCIS and on complex cases.

The city of Oakland has developed a community toolkit page listing the city’s resources for the small business community.

Other languages: Resource contains links to resources in other languages

The SF Immigrant Forum is a coalition and interagency partnership led by the city of San Francisco that helps immigrants, asylees, refugees and service providers connect to resources, opportunities and events in San Francisco.

LCCRSF is a nonprofit that empowers BIPOC communities and marginalized groups to protect themselves against discrimination, police misconduct and unjust immigration policies.

Pangea Legal Services is a nonprofit organization specializing in deportation defense and immigration legal services and offers free or low-fee legal representation in court, community education and policy advocacy to protect immigrant rights.

Amigos de Guadalupe Center is a community-based nonprofit organization in East San Jose that empowers families by providing legal aid through on-staff attorneys, as well as ESL and citizenship classes.

Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) provides low-income clients with free civil legal assistance, including legal advice and counsel, referrals and representation.

The Colectivo Legal Accesible Razonable y Organizado (CLARO) is a democratically run collective that provides critical immigration services to Santa Clara County residents.

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) is a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance in housing, immigration, workers’ rights and consumer protection for low-income residents.

Stand Together Contra Costa provides culturally competent, no-cost rapid response support, legal defense services and immigrant rights education and training to support families affected by anti-immigrant policies and practices in Contra Costa County.

Other languages: Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, Urdu

Created by the National Employment Law Project and the National Immigration Law Center, this resource provides practical guidance for employers on preparing for ICE actions, handling I-9 audits and raids, protecting workplace rights, and supporting workers after an immigration enforcement action.

This slideshow shares practical guidance for employers on preparing for workplace immigration enforcement, including how to create a response plan, train staff, identify private areas, and respond if immigration agents come to a business. It also links to additional tools such as Red Cards, employer guidance, family preparedness resources, Form I-9 materials, and multilingual resources.

Other languages: Spanish

This center helps manage the Marin Rapid Response Network, which provides a way to respond to fear and anxiety in the community as a result of increased immigration enforcement, ICE actions and other attacks against immigrant communities in Marin County.

The city of Oakland has developed a resource page listing the city’s policies regarding the immigrant community and resources available to Oaklanders through county, regional and state partners.

The Asian Law Alliance (ALA) is a non-profit community law office that has provided legal services, community education and advocacy services since 1977 to the Asian and Pacific Islanders communities in Santa Clara County.

The Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County (RRN) is a coalition of 10 nonprofit organizations and 1 directly impacted community group working together to provide deportation defense and community support.

Developed by Immigrant Defenders Law Center, this bilingual packet offers rapid response and Know Your Rights information for people affected by immigration enforcement, including hotline information, detention support, credible fear interview preparation, family preparedness tools, and Los Angeles-area legal service referrals.

Other languages: Spanish