Bay Area Habeas Network
La Raza Centro Legal (LRCL) is a founding member of the Bay Area Habeas Network (BAHN). BAHN is a coalition of six organizations – LRCL, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Justice & Diversity Center, VIDAS, and UC Law SF Immigrants’ Rights Clinic.
BAHN challenges unlawful Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests through filing petitions for writ of habeas corpus in federal court. BAHN’s goal is to file a habeas petition for every person unlawfully arrested by ICE in the Bay Area.
History
In 2025, ICE started illegally arresting people who showed up for their routine hearings at San Francisco Immigration Court. LRCL and other organizations filed same-day habeas petitions for almost everyone ICE arrested, securing their immediate release through federal court orders. By the end of 2025, ICE was no longer able to conduct frictionless arrests and ceased this practice.
Click here to read about LRCL's work filing habeas petitions for people arrested by ICE at SF Immigration Court.
Building on this success, LRCL and Immigration Institute of the Bay Area came together in late 2025 to form BAHN. BAHN attorneys file rapid habeas petitions for people ICE unlawfully arrests at check-ins and in the community.
BAHN officially launched on May 1, 2026.
Structure
BAHN attorneys are on-call five days a week to screen and potentially file rapid habeas petitions for people arrested by ICE in the Bay Area. Quick filings are often necessary to reach people before ICE disappears them into the immigration detention system or swiftly deports them. BAHN receives referrals through Bay Area rapid response networks and works in close collaboration with them.
If someone you know is arrested by ICE, call your local rapid response hotline as soon as possible. Visit the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)'s website to find your rapid response number or click here.
To contact BAHN, email jordan@lrcl.org and slevine@iibayarea.org.