On September 15th, Mayor Melvin Carter and community partners including Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), The Advocates for Human Rights (AHR), and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) announced expanded efforts to support immigrants and refugees in Saint Paul. These efforts include continuing to invest in the city’s Immigrant Legal Defense Fund, a New American Loan Program for residents seeking to naturalize, new research to inform ongoing support services, and expanded community engagement efforts.
Led by the city attorney’s office, these efforts seek to ensure Saint Paul continues to be a welcoming place to live for all residents including immigrants and refugees. Welcoming Saint Paul supports immigrant and refugee communities by providing access to tools and resources to help residents navigate the ever-changing immigration laws and policies that affect their daily lives. This includes developing programs designed to support and empower immigrant and refugee communities and providing resources to inform and educate individuals so that they can more easily protect and exercise their rights.
The Saint Paul Immigrant Legal Defense Fund is a collaboration with Ramsey County, the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), The Advocates for Human Rights (AHR) and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA). This fund supports residents who do not have legal representation, who are detained and face removal, and who earn less than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.
Learn more about Saint Paul’s work to support immigrants and refugees:
Veena Iyer Recognized with 2021 HCBA Excellence Award
Each year, the Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) presents its Excellence Awards to honor individual bar members for contributions to the profession and the community. Up to 12 awards may be given per bar year in categories such as advancing diversity and inclusion, providing pro bono service, advancing innovation in the profession, and more. The 2021 Excellence Award for Improving Access to Justice was conferred on Veena Iyer, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM).
Iyer’s leadership during the 2020 challenge to DACA and its subsequent rejection by the U.S. Supreme Court was recognized by the HCBA, particularly given that many of ILCM’s services and communications were provided remotely due to the pandemic. ILCM’s clients were kept informed using social media and live-streamed events and its volunteer attorneys were trained online to assist DACA applicants.
“It’s a recognition of a team effort. All of the work we have done is the result of the enormous dedication of our staff, past and present, and volunteers and board members, past and present.”
Read an interview with Iyer in Minnesota Lawyer: Breaking the Ice: Remote leadership to DACA response earns honor.
Creating a Culture of Pro Bono: VLN Volunteer Honored by the Minnesota Supreme Court
Last month, the Minnesota Supreme Court honored attorney Paschal Nwokocha for his extraordinary dedication to pro bono work in taking more than 100 pro bono cases through Volunteer Lawyers Network (VLN). Nwokocha is a distinguished immigration attorney, educator, and the co-author of the Immigration Practice Deskbook, written to help attorneys understand U.S. immigration law. He is also an inspiration to his associate attorneys at Paschal Nwokocha & Chukwu Law Offices, LLC, a private firm he founded in 1999, and their commitment to pro bono is likewise exemplary.
“The Minnesota State Bar Association Access to Justice Committee has brought to my attention a small number of attorneys whose commitment to pro bono has been exceptional. You are one of those few. You are answering the highest calling of our profession by helping make equal access to justice a reality.”
At Volunteer Lawyer’s Network, Colleen Beebe Purisaca, who met Nwokocha when he started volunteering at the Park Avenue Legal Clinic, said the 100 cases Nwokocha was commended for don’t tell the whole story because they were just the ones Nwokocha himself had taken. They don’t include the cases taken by his associate attorneys. She called what Nwokocha has created at his firm a “culture of pro bono.”
“I have always been impressed by Paschal because he is such a very kind person,” Purisaca said. “He really cares about people.” Read the full Mshale article “Chief Justice recognizes Nigerian-born attorney for ‘extraordinary commitment to pro bono work.’”
Pro Bono Makes a Difference
In a moving account by Tachae Hankerson, administration volunteer with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, the need for pro bono assistance and its impact are evident.
Because of limited resources, Legal Aid turns away over half of all eligible callers. To help address the shortfall, the expertise of volunteers like Ann Gemmell, vice president of enrollment at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and Maria Miller, a private immigration attorney at Martin Law, make all the difference.
When Ali Khayre came to Legal Aid for help acquiring citizenship, Gemmell and Miller were there. Ali takes care of his disabled daughter, Fartun, who needs Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to pay for her monthly living expenses. Thanks to the cooperative work of both volunteer attorneys, and legal assistant Fathia Warsame, Ali and Fartun are now U.S. citizens.
“I am approaching the one-year mark of being a citizen and I am happy to have benefits for my daughter and I,” Ali said. “The attorneys did an excellent job working with both of our citizenship cases, and now Legal Aid is helping with the pending SSI case for my daughter.”
Read Pro Bono Helping Hands in Attorney at Law Magazine.
Immigration Legal Defense Fund Offers Relief in Ramsey County
In an effort to help those at risk of deportation if they cannot afford an attorney, Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul have established an Immigration Legal Defense Fund, with matching funds from the Vera Institute for Justice. A collaborative of immigration legal service providers composed of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA), Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), and The Advocates for Human Rights (AHR) were selected to provide representation.
The Immigration Legal Defense Fund is committed to supporting families in removal proceedings and protecting the rights of immigrant and refugee residents. The collaborative will represent clients who live in Ramsey County or St. Paul, who do not have legal representation, who are detained and face removal and who earn less than 200% of Federal Poverty Guidelines.
In its press release, SAFE Network Expands to 18 Communities Fighting for Legal Representation for Immigrants Facing Deportation, the Vera Institute for Justice names Ramsey County/St. Paul as one of the newest communities now dedicated to the goal of providing publicly-funded universal representation for people facing deportation.
According to Kica Matos, director of Vera’s Center on Immigration and Justice, “What we are seeing today at the border is nothing short of horrific, but it is not just happening at the border. Detentions, deportations, and family separation are happening every single day. They are happening in our backyards, in our communities, and all across America. In the face of this chaos, we’re proud to be standing with our partner cities and counties in the SAFE Network to support our immigrant communities, promote access to justice and due process, and to stand up for a welcoming vision of America. By expanding the reach of our network, we hope to help more immigrant families stay together, and help bring stability back to communities that deserve to thrive.”