This fall, the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) marked its 25th year of service to thousands of immigrants through direct legal services, education, and advocacy. The anniversary was celebrated with a virtual event tracing the organization’s history and accomplishments over the last quarter century. As underscored in a recent Minnesota Lawyer article, the celebration’s highlights were the personal stories of how ILCM changed the lives of those seeking asylum, citizenship, naturalization and DACA.

ILCM dates back to 1976, when it was known as Oficina Legal, a project of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS). It was established as a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1996 and today operates four offices in St. Paul, Austin, Moorhead and Worthington. Since 1996, ILCM has served 135,000 individuals through involvement in 45,000 cases and services are free for eligible individuals.

The anniversary celebration also featured the presentation of Inaugural Founders Awards, which included SMRLS, pro bono partner Faegre Drinker, and Target.

In noting ILCM’s ongoing work, executive director Veena Iyer said, “It is not just about immigrant and refugee communities. When these communities do better, we all do better.” Read more in Minnesota Lawyer.

Attorneys at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) have secured a remand from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), creating the chance for their client to avoid deportation and get the medical treatment he needs for a healthy and productive life.

The client sought asylum because he feared the manifestations of his mental illness would result in persecution in his country of origin. The judge denied the client’s asylum request solely on discretion, without assessing the merits of the asylum claim. The BIA rejected the judge’s denial on discretion alone, and found that in light of how the client’s country of origin treated those with this mental illness, the client belongs to a cognizable social group, and the judge must consider the client’s claim. Further, the BIA instructed the judge to consider the client’s fear of forced medical treatment, isolation, and severe economic deprivation when weighing whether the harm he fears upon return to his home country amounts to persecution. The BIA remanded the asylum case for full examination.

MMLA’s team on the appeal included staff attorneys Eren Sutherland, Anne Carlson, Laura Wilson, and litigation director, Justin Perl. The team persuasively distinguished the client’s claim from some faulty Eight Circuit precedent, and their appellate brief creatively relied on evidence at trial, which included testimony from a professor of public health who had visited the client's county of origin numerous times and affirmed that the feared treatment is typical in that country. Read the full decision here.