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NIJC has a new Chicago address at 111 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60604 and a new email domain at @immigrantjustice.org.
 

NIJC Pro Bono Program Report FY2023

NIJC’s first ever pro bono report highlights the scope and depth of what our community accomplished together in FY2023. We are proud of our clients and community. Thank you for your continued support! Read the report.

 

Community Unites For Asylum Seekers

Our pro bono community set a new record! Within three months, 28 law firms and six corporations united to represent 35 asylum cases from 18 different countries! Thank you to our partners who stepped up and continue our commitment of providing access to justice. It's never to late to connect with a pro bono client! Learn how you can help.

 

Urgent and Available Cases

NIJC's network of pro bono attorneys represent asylum seekers, unaccompanied immigrant children, survivors of domestic abuse and low-income individuals applying for naturalization. NIJC screens all cases to ensure individuals are eligible for relief and to prioritize individuals and families who lack the private resources needed to obtain representation elsewhere.

NIJC pro bono attorneys receive training before taking on their first case, and ongoing technical assistance and case support as necessary throughout the life of each case.

Learn about being a pro bono attorney and see the case list for people who need representation.

Asylum: K., a gay cisgender man from Cuba, seeks protection and freedom to live with dignity.

K. speaks Spanish and lives in Illinois

K. fears returning to Cuba because of his past advocacy for LGBTQ rights and HIV prevention work. He was detained with other gay men and HIV prevention activists and was surveilled in his neighborhood. K. timely filed for asylum. All affidavits and supporting documents for K.’s case will be due 15 days prior to his individual merits hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. If client and pro bono counsel agree, counsel can file a motion to set the case for merits.

Asylum: P. his wife and five children from Angola seek protection and to build their lives with political freedom.

P. and his family speak Portuguese and live in Chicago

As a public school teacher P. was expected to support the government's political party. P refused to support the government party, “the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola” (the MPLA). His wife, Q., occasionally participated in anti-government events and they believed she was identified as anti-government. P was kidnapped, beaten and threatened with death. His wife and children were also victims of attempted harm including threats and attempted kidnapping due to their lack of support of the government party. After an incident in 2022 where a person on a motorcycle shot at P and the children, they fled for Brazil. NIJC timely filed P.’s application for asylum with the immigration court. All affidavits and supporting materials to their case will be due 15 days prior to their individual merits hearing, which has not yet been scheduled 

SIJS: A., a 15-year-old girl from Honduras seeks legal stability to live with her mother in Illinois.

A. lives in Chicago and speak Spanish

When A.’s mother and biological father were in a relationship he would hit her while pregnant with A. and when A. was born her father attempted to kidnap her from the hospital. Due to abuse and his involvement in the 18 street gang in Honduras, they separated. A.'s father has never been a part of A.'s life and has not provided emotional or financial support. Pro bono counsel will need to file a petition seeking to establish paternity, grant sole allocation of parental responsibilities to A.'s mother and obtain an order finding that A.'s reunification with her father is not viable due to his abandonment and neglect and that it is not in A.'s best interest to return to Honduras.

 

"Working with NIJC and its clients has been an incredible personal and professional experience for me. Our clients inspire me with their perseverance and hopefulness. I appreciate the opportunity to assist them as they pursue new pathways in their lives."
Ashleigh Ricardo, Winston & Strawn LLP
 

Pro Bono Spotlight

Thanks to the support of more than 2,000 pro bono attorneys from the nation's leading law firms, NIJC has made critical advances in the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. NIJC provides legal services to more than 9,000 individuals each year and maintains a success rate of 90 percent in obtaining asylum for those fleeing persecution in their home countries.

 

Events

NIJC offers a wide range of immigration law trainings and other opportunities for attorneys to engage with the organization's mission. An attorney taking a case for the first time must attend one of NIJC's quarterly trainings.

There are no upcoming events at this time. Please check back.

 

Federal Litigation

NIJC and its pro bono attorneys are on the vanguard of federal impact litigation and advocacy, setting positive precedents for people seeking human rights protections within the United States and defending against the administration's efforts to undermine access to due process.