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By Ela Jalil

(EXCERPT)

Christian Collins, a policy analyst for the Center for Law and Social Policy who focuses on post-secondary education, said that parking citations are just another financial barrier for students to overcome to get a degree.

Collins also noted that punishments like a hold on students’ accounts have a larger impact on low-income students who struggle to pay off their tickets, and warned against inequitable policies.

“If it’s coming at the cost of certain students effectively becoming barred from participating in education, educational opportunities and campus in general, then is it really the best design policy that you can offer?” Collins

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Join philanthropic leaders, foundation program officers, policy officials, researchers, advocates, and community-based organizations for an interactive virtual discussion that will examine the role of philanthropy in advancing civil and human rights, racial and economic justice, and multiracial democracy in the face of political retrenchment, legal threats, and backlash.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the risks foundations face, explore practical strategies for values-aligned giving, and consider how to build authentic partnerships with nonprofits and community-led movements to resist authoritarianism and protect equity-driven progress.

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Featured Speakers:

Among the issues we will explore:

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Youth mobile response is a 24/7, police-free crisis intervention service designed to support young people and families in emotional or behavioral crises. Unlike the traditional “mobile crisis” model—which focuses mainly on youth with diagnosed psychiatric conditions—CLASP’s “mobile response” approach emphasizes youth-defined crises and support before, during, and after the critical moment. It is part of a broader crisis care continuum that includes crisis hotlines, stabilization centers, peer services, and short-term crisis residential options.

This publication was produced in collaboration between CLASP and the National Collaborative for Transformative Youth Policy.

>>Download the full report here.

 

 

This event has already happened. Please see the full recording below and learn more about the speakers. 

Join policy officials, researchers, advocates, and community-based organizations for a conversation exploring how attacks on DEIA are eroding democracy. In this discussion, gain a deeper understanding, apply practical tools, and build new relationships to confront these coordinated threats and advance cross-sector, equity-driven solutions.

Featured Speakers:

Among the issues we explored:

This statement can be attributed to Wendy Chun-Hoon, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) 

Washington, D.C., October 1, 2025 – After Congress failed to pass a budget for Fiscal Year 2026 by the September 30 deadline, the federal government has shut down. Budgets are moral documents, and Congress should be focused on funding the government in a way that supports children, workers, families, and communities across the country. This includes extending programs that continue to make health care affordable for millions and ensuring that children and families receive the assistance they’re eligible for and need to thrive. 

Voters across the country elect their Members of Congress and entrust them to do their jobs. The most basic function of Congress is to pass a budget each year. In a functioning government, this budget would be free from interference by a presidential administration. Instead, the administration is manufacturing chaos and dysfunction to continue to weaken the institutions families rely on to survive.  

As conversation and work continue around passing an agreement to fund the government, CLASP’s focus remains on communities being pushed to the margin, workers paid low wages, children, immigrants, communities of color, and people and families living on low incomes. Their safety, security, and well-being should not be held hostage by a dysfunctional government. 

Updated April 2, 2025, by Priya Pandey; Spanish version added September 2025 (see link below)

Originally published in 2019 by Rebecca Ullrich and updated in February 2022 by Alejandra Londono Gomez

Early childhood programs play an important role in the lives of young children and their families. But in our current political climate, families across the country are questioning whether it’s safe to attend or enroll.

In January 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded the Biden Administration’s guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection enforcement actions in certain “protected areas.” Immigration enforcement actions had previously been restricted at or near these locations, which include early childhood programs such as licensed child care, preschool, pre-kindergarten, and Head Start programs.

In response, we have updated “A Guide to Creating ‘Safe Space’ Policies for Early Childhood Programs,” which gives practitioners, advocates, and policymakers information and resources to design and implement “safe space” policies that safeguard early childhood programs against immigration enforcement, as well as protect families’ safety and privacy. The guide also includes sample policy text that early childhood providers can adapt for their programs.

Download English Version

Disponible en español aqui

EXCERPT from letter to the editor by Wendy Cervantes:

“Immigration actions cause long-lasting harm and trauma for children. That’s true whether the Department of Homeland Security separates families, as was the case in The Post’s story; removes them together and sends them back to potential harm, in some cases regardless of the children’s citizenship status; detains them together in inhumane conditions; or even reunites them after forced separation.”

Read letter to the editor here.

By Blake Ellis,Melanie Hicken, Anna-Maja Rappard and Kyung Lah 

(EXCERPT)

“It’s literally a kid’s worst nightmare having someone come take your parents in the middle of the night,” said Wendy Cervantes, a longtime immigration policy expert who has worked with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to help craft federal policies that protect the children of immigrants. “No matter the outcome, you are turning a kid’s life upside down.”

Read article here.

By Julian Aguilar

(EXCERPT)

Wendy Cervantes, the director of immigration and immigrant families at the Center for Law and Social Policy, said the administration can grant humanitarian parole under current law.

“Our laws allow for humanitarian parole for these exact reasons, to protect U.S. citizens who face hardship in cases where a family member has been deported or is barred from entering the country,” she said.

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This statement can be attributed to Wendy Chun-Hoon, president and executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)  

Washington, D.C., September 16, 2025—On September 8, 2025, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned order stating that federal agents could continue to detain people and question them about their immigration status based on one or more of these factors: presumed race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; type of employment; and being in an area deemed to have a high concentration of migrants and immigrants. These factors amount to racial profiling and permit policing based on assumptions, biases, and prejudices. Lower courts had issued temporary restraining orders prohibiting the government from employing these aggressive tactics, which violate the Fourth Amendment. 

The Court’s order has, at least temporarily, legitimized racial profiling across an untold number of populations, putting millions of U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike at immediate risk. This order erodes the constitutional right of due process, normalizes and expands pre-emptive and discretionary powers given to law enforcement agents, and negates a core tenet of the American justice system: “innocent until proven guilty.” 

The case is still pending at the Ninth Circuit, which will hear the full appeal. CLASP supports the previous lower court ruling and will continue to advocate against administrative actions that harm immigrant communities and communities of color.