The first of its kind in state history, the California Immigration Legal Fellowship, expands access to counsel in the most underserved rural regions of the state. The Fellowship is a two year capacity building and professional development program for 10 recent law graduates to become deportation defense practitioners in the Central Valley and Central Coast regions. The ten fellows are placed at Host Organizations, most of which have never provided deportation defense services to their communities, in order to increase the number of qualified immigration attorneys defending California residents against family separation. 

The California Department of Social Services is the current funder of the Fellowship.