Madden & Clouse: How you can help immigrant neighbors who are in need

For reasons new and old, life is filled with uncertainty for some of our neighbors. For our immigrant neighbors in particular, an already arduous immigration system has, due to recent policy changes, become even more dizzying.

The National Immigrant Justice Center aims to make immigration processes more understandable and equitable by offering direct legal services to low-income immigrants in Indiana and Illinois, pursuing impact litigation nationwide and advocating for policy change at all levels of the government.

Katherine Gordon, staff attorney for the Children’s Protection Project at NIJC, reports that the need has never been greater for pro bono volunteers. The NIJC provides legal services to more than 11,000 people each year, and that number is ever-increasing. The impact of a person’s immigration status cannot be overstated—nor can the impact of legal representation to ensure a person eligible to remain in the U.S. can live, work, and play in their community without fear of separation from family or being placed in a dangerous situation.

The NIJC is a well-oiled machine for those who want to volunteer. Interested volunteers need only to visit the “How to Help” tab on immigrantjustice.org and fill out the interest form under “Be a Pro Bono Attorney.” NIJC screens cases for eligibility before matching volunteers with clients. Thus, volunteers will be tasked with client matters that are well suited to go the distance in full scope representation.

NIJC currently needs all hands on deck, particularly to assist with asylum cases. Individuals who seek asylum in the U.S. are fleeing persecution, torture, and sometimes even death in their home countries.

While handling asylum cases, pro bono volunteer teams are supported by a team from NIJC to work with clients and learn their stories. Volunteers meet with their asylum clients multiple times to learn the client’s story and assemble the application. This process involves affidavit writing, authoring a legal brief, researching and compiling country conditions to support the case, and occasionally working with expert witnesses who analyze country conditions or conduct medical or psychological exams. The capstone to an asylum case is an interview with an asylum officer or a bench trial before the immigration court.

These cases are particularly well-suited for early-career attorneys to build experience in client interviewing, research and writing, taking testimony, defending witnesses, and presenting evidence in court. It also offers a unique opportunity to appear in Indiana’s new and only immigration court, which opened this year in downtown Indianapolis.

Of course, the level of commitment can vary based on one’s volunteer capacity. Many aspects of an asylum case can be split up among a team to create a more manageable workload for individual attorneys. Since asylum matters often last multiple years and require significant resources—including language support—medium and large law firms are particularly well positioned to take asylum cases through NIJC, although attorneys at firms of any size are needed as volunteers.

While this experience may seem tailored for litigators, Gordon emphasizes that attorneys from all areas have skills to contribute. She notes that it is helpful to be strong at rule and statute interpretation, case organization and people skills. NIJC offers a plethora of training to get volunteers from all practices up to speed.

Volunteer attorneys can work in other areas of immigration law as well. NIJC also takes on cases securing U Visas, which are available to some immigrant survivors of domestic abuse and other crimes and petitioning for protection under the Violence Against Women Act. Additional opportunities include providing deportation defense for immigrants at detention centers and representing LGBTQIA+ immigrants.

For those passionate about helping children, NIJC provides representation in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, or SIJS, cases. SIJS enables undocumented immigrant children who have suffered abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment to acquire lawful permanent residence. Stay tuned with the NIJC for upcoming Indiana SIJS pro bono opportunities.

Contributing to NIJC’s cause can take many forms. People who speak multiple languages can volunteer on a one-off or ongoing basis to interpret or translate for NIJC clients, for example. And if you or your organization do not have the capacity to take on a full case, consider donating as a way to support NIJC’s cause.

The opportunities to get involved are great, but the need in our community is even greater. When describing the folks who utilize NIJC’s services, Gordon emphasizes, “these are our neighbors – show that Hoosier hospitality.”•

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Molly Madden and Cassidy Segura Clouse are associates in Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath’s Indianapolis office. Opinions expressed are those of the authors.