(March 2014) — In Illinois, for each immigration legal professional who provides low-cost legal services, there are more than 3,500 undocumented immigrants who need legal aid, according to a report by the Illinois Immigration Legal Aid Collaborative (IILAC).

The report, Reaching Illinois Immigrant Communities: Building Legal Services Capacity In Advance of Immigration Reform, assesses the capacity of the state’s 40 immigration legal aid organizations to meet the current demand for immigration legal services, as well as the anticipated demand that would be created by much-needed federal immigration reform. The report also provides guidance to foundations and donors whose investment in immigration legal services is needed now to ensure immigrants and their families secure due process and legal relief.

The Illinois Immigration Legal Aid Collaborative, led by a 15-member steering committee of Illinois legal service providers and coordinated by Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center, is made possible through the generous support of the Illinois Funders DACA Relief Initiative, a short-term collaborative fund of several Chicago-based foundations that was created in response to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative.