Commission on Immigrant Rights and Citizenship

The City of Cambridge and CLSACC host a monthly Immigration Legal Screening Clinic.

Visit the State's website for the Emergency Planning Guide for Families prepared by the Office of Attorney General

Click here to download the Emergency Planning Guide for Families in English, Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The guide outlines care and custody options, including caregiver authorization, temporary agent authorization, and guardianship of a minor. The guide offers a comparison of how these options differ, and outlines the process for setting up each of these arrangements. It also offers a checklist of documents that parents may want to ensure they have in a safe place and available to the child and his or her caregiver as needed, such as passports, medical records, contact information and more.

Stay updated on DACA and follow Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)

On September 5, 2017, the Trump Administration announced that it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 6 months. At this point it is unclear whether protections afforded by DACA will continue and be codified through legislation. The lack of clarity regarding the Federal Government’s position on cancelling or extending the DACA program has left DACA beneficiaries in a state of uncertainty.

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) is working with legal services organizations throughout Massachusetts to provide up-to-date information about DACA. For more up-to-date information about DACA, look at MIRA’s DACA information page. For general information about the impacts of DACA, consult the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s (ILRC) Community Advisory or an immigration attorney.


The information and materials provided at the website links above were not created by the City of Cambridge and the City of Cambridge does not adopt any positions contained therein.  The City of Cambridge is not providing legal advice.  These materials were created by other organizations and if you have any questions or are seeking legal advice you should contact those organizations or your own attorney.

Photo credit: MIRA Coalition 

We do not warranty their information nor have we verified it.

About CIRC

The Commission on Immigrant Rights & Citizenship (CIRC) was formed in September 2016 to address the needs of Cambridge’s immigrant community. It accomplishes this through its work in the following areas: 

• Providing outreach material regarding immigrant rights and resources, both through its website and in locations throughout the City.
• Coordinating “Know Your Rights” (KYR) Trainings, provided by experienced Immigration Attorneys, in conjunction with the American Immigration Lawyers Association – New England (AILA-NE) and the Political Asylum and Immigration/Representation (PAIR) Project. Know Your Rights trainings can be arranged through the CIRC Office, by host organizations with sites located in Cambridge. 
• Providing “Red Cards” in eight predominant local foreign languages (Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Spanish and Somali). Red Cards are provided at KYR Trainings, in the CIRC Office and by mail (in limited quantities) upon request.
• Providing Outreach and Referral Services through a CIRC staff person who will assist Cambridge immigrant residents with identifying, accessing and obtaining City and local services and resources. This CIRC Outreach Worker will reach out to faith-based organizations, community organizations and meeting places that serve immigrant populations, to provide assistance to Cambridge resident immigrants related to housing, benefits, ESOL classes, citizenship classes, legal services and counseling needs. The CIRC Outreach Worker will be available to provide these services starting in fall 2017. 

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