Impact Docket – 05/06/26
This week demands action. Here are EIGHT ways you can push back right now:
⚡ Quick Actions
Tell Congress: Protect Public Service Loan Forgiveness → A vote could come as soon as next week
Tell Congress to reject a DOJ power grab → Write to your Member of Congress
📩 Short-Term Engagement - Live Events & Public Comments
Oppose EPA's rollback of protections against a known carcinogen → Submit a comment by May 1 DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 11
Protect communities from industrial chemical disasters → Use L4GG’s resources (below) and submit a comment by April 10 DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 11
🛠️ Long-Term Engagement
Deploy to a detention center with L4GG's Detention Bridge Project → Volunteer
Pro bono habeas training for El Paso attorneys → Register for the May 21 training or help us spread the word!
Defend grants under attack → Volunteer with L4GG’s Fund Protection Initiative or Court of Federal Claims Clinic
Partner Actions
Answer calls from detained immigrants → Volunteer for the ABA Detention Information Hotline
Whether you have 2 minutes or 2 days, join the fight. Keep reading for more context.
🔴 The Moment We're In: Law Day was Just the Beginning
YLast Friday, 3,000+ attorneys stood up for Law Day of Action in 75+ events across 25 states and publicly retook their oaths. Not behind closed doors. Not in briefs or filings. Outside, at courthouses, in front of the institutions we swore to uphold — loud enough that no one can pretend the legal profession is sitting this out. We have a lot to be proud of this week — scroll down to our Community Impact section to see what this community built.
Two days before those oaths, the Supreme Court made clear why they matter. On April 29, the Supreme Court handed down Louisiana v. Callais — a 6-3 ruling that effectively gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Within an hour, Florida's legislature approved a gerrymandered map designed to eliminate four Democratic seats. Other states are already following. (Read L4GG's statement.)
Meanwhile, a vote to protect Public Service Loan Forgiveness could come next week. Two EPA comment deadlines close May 11. And L4GG's pro bono programs need attorneys now more than ever.
On Friday, you said out loud that the rule of law is not negotiable. This week's Docket has eight ways to prove it. Pick one. Start there.
⚡ QUICK ACTIONS
📜 Tell Congress: Protect Public Service Loan Forgiveness
A new Department of Education rule — taking effect July 1 — lets Education Secretary Linda McMahon disqualify entire employers from Public Service Loan Forgiveness based on whether their activities align with the administration's "public policy." That means a public defender's office, a legal aid nonprofit, or a civil rights organization could lose qualifying status overnight — taking years of forgiveness progress with it. Congress wrote PSLF into law in 2007 with bipartisan support. More than 1.2 million public servants have received forgiveness totaling over $90 billion.
A vote could come as soon as next week. Tell Congress to vote YES.
📜 Tell Congress: Don't Hand the DOJ to the President
H.R. 8065 would strip federal district courts of their authority to appoint interim U.S. attorneys, handing that power entirely to the Attorney General and effectively bypassing Senate confirmation. The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on March 26 and could come to the full House floor when Congress returns on May 12.
Your voice as a lawyer matters here. A letter identifying yourself as an attorney and an officer of the court carries weight that form emails don't. It takes two minutes.
📩 SHORT-TERM ENGAGEMENT — Live Events & Public Comments
📋 Submit a Comment: Defend Work Permits for Asylum Seekers
📍Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: THIS FRIDAY, April 24
A proposed federal rule would effectively prevent many asylum seekers from obtaining work authorization. Given current processing times, USCIS itself estimates it could take 14 to 173 years to resume accepting applications.
Use the comment templates forindividuals ororganizations
Submit your comment via theFederal Register by April 24, 2026
Let us know you submitted atL4GG.org/TrackComment.
👥 Pro Bono Volunteer Webinar: Lawyers on the Front Lines
📍 Register: L4GG.org/FrontLines | April 28 | 3pm ET | Zoom
Curious what it’s actually like to volunteer with L4GG? Join L4GG’s Executive Director Traci Feit Love for a candid conversation with four volunteers who have done the work — from a variety of legal backgrounds, representing opportunities across L4GG’s programs. They will share how they got involved, what support L4GG provided, and what they’d tell someone who has been on the fence. Come with questions.
☣️ Submit a Comment: Oppose EPA's Rollback of Protections Against a Known Carcinogen
📍Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: May 1
The EPA is proposing to roll back rules for commercial sterilizers — major emitters of ethylene oxide (EtO), a potent carcinogen. This rule would increase EtO emissions by over 17,000 pounds per year near homes, schools, and parks, and permanently restrict the use of new science in health risk assessments.
Read L4GG’s Comment Template & draft your comment.
Submit your comment via the Federal Register by May 1, 2026.
Let us know you submitted atL4GG.org/TrackComment.
🏭 Submit a Comment: Protect Families from Industrial Chemical Disasters
📍Follow the steps below | Comment deadline: April 10 Deadline Extended to May 11
The EPA is proposing to gut the Risk Management Program — stripping third-party audits, removing "stop work" authority for employees during emergencies, and limiting the public's ability to know what hazardous chemicals are stored next to their schools and homes.
To fight back effectively, we need substantive comments that build a legal record the EPA is forced to address. Here’s how you can take action
Read L4GG’s Comment Template & draft your comment.
Submit your comment via the Federal Register by May 11, 2026.
Let us know you submitted at L4GG.org/TrackComment.
🛠️ LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT — You Showed Up on May 1. Now Keep Going.
🌉 Volunteer with L4GG's Detention Bridge Project
As ICE enforcement surged over the past few months, the Detention Bridge Project met the moment. We hosted two trainings, equipping 185+ attorneys — many without prior immigration experience — to provide legal support inside detention centers. With our partnership with Estrella del Paso and hundreds of volunteers mobilized, we are urgently seeking attorneys to support detention centers in El Paso — both in person and remotely — to conduct intakes, document conditions for advocacy and litigation, and serve as counsel for bond hearings, habeas petitions, and individual immigration cases. Legal representation makes immigrants 5x more likely to win their cases. No immigration experience required — we train you.
⚖️ Pro Bono Habeas Training: Volunteer with PBLC in El Paso
📍 L4GG.org/HabeasTraining | Wednesday, May 21 | 2:00 PM ET | Zoom
L4GG is launching a large-scale habeas project to seek the release of people unlawfully detained by ICE at Fort Bliss and Dilley Detention Centers. We have volunteer attorneys across the country ready to draft petitions and filings — but we need local counsel in El Paso who can file with the court and handle in-person appearances. This training covers case matching, Western District of Texas court procedures, and the resources L4GG provides to volunteers.
No immigration experience required. L4GG provides malpractice insurance, research access, filing templates, mentoring, and administrative support.
Not in El Paso? You can still join the Pro Bono Litigation Corps — L4GG's in-house program matching independent attorneys with high-impact constitutional cases. Since July 2025, 600+ attorneys have signed on, 100+ are actively litigating, and PBLC volunteers have filed federal lawsuits defending the Underground Railroad Education Center and challenging mass terminations of 140+ federal employees.
🛡️ Defend Grants Under Attack — Fund Protection Initiative and Court of Federal Claims Clinic
📍L4GG.org/FundProtectionVol | L4GG.org/COFC
The administration is unlawfully terminating federal funding — and L4GG has two programs fighting back. The Federal Fund Protection Initiative pairs volunteer attorneys with nonprofits, Tribal governments, and underserved communities to protect their grants — fully remote, no courtroom appearance required. The Court of Federal Claims Clinic takes it to court, with volunteers behind a $1.7 billion class action, a $7 billion suit protecting low-income solar access, and a rare en banc review for $20 billion in clean energy funds.
Both programs need attorneys with experience in federal contracts, administrative law, compliance, or transactional law — and we train those who don't.
🤝 PARTNER ACTIONS
📞 Answer Calls from Detained Immigrants — ABA Detention Information Hotline
With the loss of Legal Orientation Program funding, the ABA Commission on Immigration has shifted to a volunteer-powered hotline for people in ICE detention navigating their immigration matters. They are seeking experienced immigration attorneys — particularly those with removal defense backgrounds — to answer calls, provide general legal information, and offer support to callers who may not otherwise have access to timely guidance. Sign up to volunteer!
🎉 Community Impact: 3,000 Lawyers. 75 Events. One Oath.
On May 1, the legal profession showed up — for Law Day of Action. More than 3,000 lawyers, judges, and advocates gathered at 75+ events in 65 cities across 25 states, joined by over 100 bar associations, law schools, and legal organizations. Sitting and former judges. State Supreme Court justices. Members of Congress. Bar presidents. Law school deans. Thousands of practicing attorneys — standing publicly together and retaking their oaths.
In D.C., L4GG produced the flagship event at the Supreme Court, featuring Senator Mazie Hirono, Congressman Glenn Ivey, ACS President Phil Brest, civil rights leader Barbara Arnwine, and retired Judge Herbert Dixon, who expanded the oath to everyone present. Across the country, 500 gathered in Olympia, 300 in Buffalo, 250 in Cleveland, 200 in San Francisco. The message was the same everywhere: the legal profession is not standing by.
None of this happens without you. Every registration, every share, every colleague you brought along built this. Thank you.
We’ll be back next week with more ways to take action—but the work doesn’t stop here.
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