Our Community Is Your Community
Nuestra Comunidad Es Tu Comunidad
There are 36,000 immigrant youth in the Inland Empire, and we are the only non-profit organization in the region that is centered on and dedicated to supporting and empowering us, to ensure that we’re all treated with dignity and respect regardless of our status.
One of our strengths is that our membership and decision-making bodies are made up of the very same people who are directly affected by the issues we take on. We’re dedicated to advocating for the expansion of immigrant-friendly policies in all aspects that contribute to the quality of life of undocumented folks. Our work is grounded in these priorities:
Community Building
Youth Development
Civic Participation + Political Education
Creativity + Artistic Expression
Healing + Restorative Justice
Our Mission and Vision
Nuestra Misión y Visión
Our mission is to provide mentorship, advocacy, and resources for younger undocumented immigrants to organize, mobilize, and dream in a safe space.
Our vision is to empower youth through a region-focused lens to achieve social equality, dignity, inclusivity, and respect.
Our History
Nuestra Historia
The Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective (IEIYC) was founded in 2010 by three UndocuQueer college students living in the region. Having directly experienced discrimination and limited access to resources, our founders saw the demand for a place where younger undocumented immigrants could plan, organize, and mobilize our peers to challenge policies that limit our rights to live freely in this country.
The IEIYC initially focused on the passage of the DREAM Act, but we shifted our goals in 2011 after the bill’s failure. We began mobilizing our efforts towards the decriminalization of all immigrant communities and an end to detention and deportations. In 2013, we were supported by small project grants centered around DACA workshops, detention watch, and other immigration-related issues.
The following year, the California Endowment invited us to apply for its project grant to support the health of the immigrant community in the Inland Empire. That’s when IEIYC joined the Health4All campaign—an expansion of full-scope MediCal services to low-income undocumented immigrants ages 19-25—and contributed to the victory of Health4AllKids. After a successful campaign, we moved forward with the implementation of this newly expanded program by helping these young adults to enroll in MediCal.
In 2017, a general support grant from the Weingart Foundation, along with the Immigrant Justice Fund, supported the IEIYC to hire a director and create an established, internal structure for the IEIYC. Since then our organization has grown from being fully volunteer-run to having four staff, and over 300 members.
Our affiliates have played an integral role in the passage of The Safe and Responsible Drivers Act (AB60), The TRUST Act (Ab 4), California Values Act (SB54), and Health4All Kids. Today our founders are still at the forefront of the fight for just immigration policies grounded in respect, while paving the way for the future leaders of our community.