Want to make a difference? Make a phone call today. Then share the link to this page on your social media. Call your Senators. Call your Congressional Representative. Contact the White House through this email form. Call your Minnesota legislators.

Asylum Under Attack: Call Congress Now!

Right now, U.S. asylum and humanitarian parole programs are at grave risk of being traded away in negotiations over supplemental funding. Proposals that seek to restrict asylum and humanitarian parole will create more border chaos, not less. And blocking vulnerable immigrants from seeking access to safety endangers their lives and the lives of their families.

Call your Senators. Call your Congressional Representative. Tell them not to compromise away U.S. legal protection for vulnerable immigrants. Tell them to vote against any compromise that limits asylum or humanitarian parole.

Attacks on asylum and humanitarian parole masquerade as “border security” measures. In fact, they add nothing to border security and, instead, will increase border chaos.

The lives of vulnerable and persecuted people must not be reduced to bargaining chips in partisan deal-making.

Call your Senators. Call your Congressional Representative. Tell them not to compromise away U.S. legal protection for vulnerable immigrants. Tell them to vote against any compromise that limits asylum or humanitarian parole.

Other recent Action Alerts:

• Congress Must Act to Protect Dreamers
• Afghan Adjustment Act: Now is the Time to Move Ahead
• Defend the Dream: Take Action to Support DREAMers today!
• Expand MinnesotaCare for Immigrants
• Say No to Ending Asylum
• Join us at the Capitol! Driver’s Licenses for All Senate Vote
• Join us at the Capitol! Driver’s Licenses for All House Vote
• Tell Congress: Act NOW to Protect Immigrants!
• Tell the President: TPS for Central America!

The Minnesota Children & Families Immigration Court Project is a joint project between ILCM, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, and The Advocates for Human Rights. The project was created to help assist the increased number of unaccompanied minors and other Central American Refugees who are being placed in removal proceedings and facing deportation. Project volunteers provide free legal screenings on-site at court to respondents. Screenings are then circulated to the partnering agencies to see if the case is appropriate for full representation. Volunteers are not expected to take on any cases or complete any follow-up work after they have completed screenings at court. Previous experience with immigration law is preferable but not required for this project.

Attending a training is the first step to becoming involved with the ILCM Pro Bono Project. 

You can add yourself to our to our mailing list to hear about upcoming trainings. Follow these instructions to be added to our mailing list. 

 

ILCM’s Pro Bono Project offers several volunteer opportunities for legal professionals to assist low-income immigrants and refugees with their immigration-related cases. Volunteers provide invaluable assistance that allows clients to obtain life changing remedies. Listed below is a summary of ILCM’s various pro bono opportunities, information about the support our office provides to volunteers, and details about how to get involved.

How to Get Involved

To receive announcements about upcoming trainings and new opportunities for volunteers with legal experience, please fill our survey. We will then add you to our Pro Bono Volunteer and mailing lists.

All pro bono volunteers must have the following:

• A current (and active) attorney license from a jurisdiction within the United States;
• A phone number that can be used for client correspondence; and
• A mailing address that can be used for case-related filings.

**If you are concerned about meeting one of the volunteer requirements listed above, or have questions about volunteering with our Pro Bono Project, please feel free to contact our Pro Bono Manager Tracy Roy at tracy.roy@ilcm.org or our Pro Bono Coordinators Griselda Gurrola-Martinez at griselda.gurrola@ilcm.com and Jannet Caceres at jannet.caceres@ilcm.org to obtain more information.

Volunteer Support Available

ILCM provides volunteers with ongoing support throughout all pro bono matters. Support includes, but is not limited to:

• Pre-screened cases;
• Malpractice coverage;
• Free training and manuals;
• Intensive mentorship;
• Interpreter and Translation support if needed;
• Access to ILCM’s online casework resources;
• Use of ILCM office space for client meetings;
• Use of ILCM’s copy, postage, and fax machines for ILCM pro bono matters; and
• CLE Credit for trainings and pro bono casework.

 

Pro Bono Projects

• The Citizenship Project
  • Through the Citizenship Project volunteer attorneys represent clients in relation to their citizenship cases. Volunteer attorneys help clients compile applications for citizenship, and attend the citizenship interview with the client. A typical naturalization case requires 15-20 hours for a new pro bono attorney. The Citizenship Project is open to all licensed attorneys. No previous immigration experience is required. Before participating in the Citizenship Project, pro bono attorneys must attend a CLE training in the area of naturalization law hosted by ILCM.
• The DREAMer Project
  • ILCM is helping with DACA renewal for persons living anywhere in MN whose DACA expires as far out as 6 months from the present.
  • Through the DREAMer Pro Bono Project, volunteer attorneys represent immigrants in their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) renewal cases. DACA is a program that provides work authorization and deferred action to immigrant youths who have fulfilled certain educational requirements and meet other specified conditions. The DACA application is an administrative process and requires no court experience. A typical DACA case requires approximately 5-7 hours for a new pro bono attorney. No previous immigration experience is required to participate in this project. Before participating in the DREAMer Project pro bono attorneys must attend a CLE hosted by ILCM. All DREAMer Project attorneys receive in-depth training materials, ongoing mentorship, and regular e-mail updates regarding relevant changes in immigration law.
• The Minnesota Immigration & Refugee Helpline
  • In 2017, ILCM opened an emergency phone resource for community members; the Minnesota Immigrant & Refugee Helpline. The Helpline goes active when an event such as an Executive Order announcement or raid occurs, and there is an influx of requests for information and legal advice from community members. When the Helpline is live community members can call in to talk with an attorney about the relevant subject at that time (i.e. Raid response information, guidance surrounding new Executive Orders or Department of Homeland Security announcements, Know Your Rights information, family preparedness information, information about detention, etc.) To assist with the Helpline Project, we ask that volunteers have an extensive background in immigration law and be prepared to answer Helpline questions without training from ILCM staff.

ILCM is grateful to the volunteers and interns who share their time and talents with our organization. These volunteers enable ILCM to expand our services in ways that would not otherwise be possible for a small nonprofit legal office.

Get involved:

Specific, ongoing volunteer and internship positions are listed below, but the list is not exhaustive. We also mobilize volunteers in our network on an as-needed basis. If you have unique language capacity, talents, or connections and want to get involved, please fill out this form to join our volunteer network, receive notifications about one-time volunteer opportunities, and get updates on new internship positions.

If you would like to receive Action Alerts or our newsletter, please see our Subscribe page. Our Facebook page is the best source of information about upcoming events.

Apply for an internship:

Applicants interested in specific positions should email a resume and cover letter to volunteer@ilcm.org, attn: Volunteer Coordinator. Some positions may have additional requirements such as references or writing samples. For more details, please contact the volunteer coordinator at (651) 641-1011.

Cover letters must address the following points:

1. What is your interest in ILCM’s work?
2. What contributions can you bring to the organization?
3. Why do you believe that advocacy for immigrants is important?

ILCM does not discriminate on basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

ILCM is a 30-person office with five locations in the State of Minnesota including two St. Paul offices and offices in Austin, Moorhead, and Worthington. Additionally, ILCM has recently expanded to provide services in North Dakota.

We are grateful to our dedicated and hardworking staff who have made our 27 years of operation possible. We look for individuals who share our mission of enhancing opportunities for immigrants and refugees through legal representation for low-income individuals, and through education and advocacy with diverse communities.

ILCM is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a work environment that is free from harassment and discrimination. ILCM provides equal opportunity to all applicants for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws and will not refuse to hire any qualified individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual by reason of an employee’s race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, familial status, status with regard to public assistance, or any other characteristic protected by law.

There are currently no open positions. Stay up to date with ILCM by subscribing to our newsletter.

There are many ways you can get involved with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, including donating, volunteering, and joining our action network.

• Donate – any amount helps! Consider a regular monthly donation.
• Careers – join our team!
• Internships and volunteering – learn about immigration through various opportunities
• Pro bono – for attorney volunteers – training available
• Action Network – take action by contacting your representatives
• Subscribe – stay up to date with ILCM, immigration, and ways to take action