Bay Area Habeas Network
Advocacy
Bay Area Habeas Network
La Raza Centro Legal is a founding member of BAHN, a coalition of seven organizations. The goal is a habeas petition for every person ICE unlawfully arrests in the Bay Area.
How it works
BAHN is a coalition of seven organizations: La Raza Centro Legal, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, VIDAS, UC Law SF Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, Justice & Diversity Center, and Centro Legal de La Raza (Oakland).
The work challenges unlawful ICE arrests by filing petitions for writ of habeas corpus in federal court. The goal is a habeas petition for every person ICE unlawfully arrests in the Bay Area.
History
In 2025 ICE started illegally arresting people who showed up for routine hearings at San Francisco Immigration Court. This office and other organizations filed same-day habeas petitions for almost everyone ICE arrested, securing immediate release through federal court orders. By the end of 2025 ICE could no longer make frictionless arrests and stopped the practice.
Building on that, LRCL and the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area formed BAHN in late 2025. Attorneys file rapid habeas petitions for people ICE unlawfully arrests at check-ins and in the community. BAHN launched May 1, 2026.
Structure
Attorneys are on call five days a week to screen and, when needed, file rapid habeas petitions. Quick filings often matter so ICE cannot disappear someone into detention or deport them swiftly. BAHN receives referrals through Bay Area rapid-response networks.
If someone you know is arrested, call your local rapid-response hotline first. Then write jordan@lrcl.org and slevine@iibayarea.org.
Support habeas work
Gifts keep attorneys on call when ICE makes an unlawful arrest.