Volunteer with Freedom for Immigrants

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with FFI — your support strengthens our people-powered movement to abolish immigration incarceration!

Please review the volunteer opportunities currently available, then complete the application form at the bottom of this page.

Hotline Volunteers

Currently accepting new volunteers who speak a language other than English 

Respond to calls to FFI’s National Immigration Detention Hotline from people in immigration detention, as well as family members seeking support for loved ones in detention. Hotline volunteers further our mission by monitoring detention conditions, reporting abuses, and requesting support on behalf of callers. Hotline volunteers work on 2-hour shifts that are organized in a schedule to ensure we are able to cover calls throughout the day. We need people who are able to project their empathy and understanding over the phone in order to calm and reassure people in detention. We prioritize volunteers who speak a second language. If you are a monolingual English speaker, there is a high chance we will not contact you to volunteer. Volunteers must be available for two consecutive hours; shifts take place M-F between 8am-8pm PST. 

Types of shifts
Detention Hotline: You will be answering calls directly from people currently detained in immigration detention who are calling to report conditions, abuse, and neglect, and to seek out support. Shifts in the middle of the day are much busier (3-5 calls per shift) than shifts in the early morning or late at night (1-2 calls per shift).

Hotline Alternate: You share the times you are usually available (example: Tuesdays 10am-12pm PT) and cover shifts when volunteers are sick, on vacation, or otherwise unable to do their shift.

Other requirements: Must be over the age of 18 years old. Must have access to a laptop, phone, and stable internet. Must be located in the United States. 

Community Accompaniment Volunteers

Community Accompaniment Volunteers provide support to immigrants released from immigration detention. Join a growing grassroots movement of post-release community care to demonstrate that we are far more capable of providing refuge to immigrants than ICE and corporate prison contractors. Accompaniment volunteers support those coming out of detention with everyday tasks such as accessing food, shelter, healthcare, transportation, a lawyer, enrolling in English class, purchasing cell phone/phone plan, bureaucratic errands, community integration, direct advocacy, and psycho-social support. We encourage you to volunteer with a local group in the Accompaniment Network.

Translation & Interpretation Volunteers

We encourage you to volunteer with our allies at Respond Crisis Translation.

Legal Volunteers

We encourage you to volunteer with our allies at Immigration Justice Campaign.


Volunteer Application Form

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Freedom for Immigrants! Please complete this form with as much detail as possible so that we can learn more about you and make sure that the volunteering roles you have applied for match your skills. Please allow for a few weeks for our team to process your application and contact you with next steps.


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