James H. Binger
Center for New Americans 2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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$3.58M
James H. Binger
Pro Bono Services Offered Since the Center’s Inception
Center for New Americans The James H. Binger Center for New Americans is a comprehensive immigration program at the University of Minnesota Law School that brings together students, faculty, and community partners to advocate for immigrants at the local and national level. Founded in 2013, the Binger Center’s four immigration law clinics and education and outreach program provide urgently needed legal services to immigrants,
$222K Pro Bono Services Offered in 2020–21
pursue impact litigation that will improve our nation’s immigration laws, and educate immigrants about their rights. This unique and collaborative model allows students to directly represent immigrants in court, participate in community advocacy and policy
52 Students Enrolled in Binger Center Clinics and Field Placements in 2020–21
development, and litigate appeals in federal court to break down systemic barriers facing immigrants.
Our Unique Collaborative Model
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Nonprofit Legal Aid Providers The Advocates for Human Rights
Education and Outreach Program Page 5
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Law Firm Partners
Dorsey & Whitney
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath
Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid
Robins Kaplan
Detainee Rights Clinic Page 7
Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
Immigration and Human Rights Clinic
Rural Immigrant Access Clinic Page 13
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Page 9 2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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The Virginia DMV project allowed us to connect with forward-thinking attorneys and activists, and I was deeply inspired by movement lawyering and proud to contribute.” — EMILY CURRAN, 3L Student Director, Detainee Rights Clinic
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Impact Spotlight
Students Draft Privacy Legislation Passed in Virginia
TAKE BACK TECH
The increasing use of technology as a tool for law enforcement facilitates criminalization and deportation of immigrants while threatening privacy rights and instilling fear in communities across the country. Just Futures Law and Mijente created the Take Back Tech Fellowship to support a movement of lawyers, organizers, and researchers to mitigate the harmful effects of an expanding field of tech enforcement that targets immigrants on a national scale. After being selected as a 2020–21 Take Back Tech fellow, Professor Linus Chan led a team of students— Adam Oliver 2L, Megan Stembridge 2L, Emily Curran 3L, and Dorislynn Quinones 3L—in drafting a critical data privacy bill in Virginia. HB 2163 sought to prevent the use of information obtained from the DMV in ICE enforcement. In March 2021, the bill passed, making Virginia one of the few states in the nation to provide extensive protection to residents about how their information is shared and processed at the DMV.
2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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MEDICAL LEGAL COLLABORATIVE BY THE NUMBERS
200+ Community Members Served Since 2018
40+ Clinics Held Since 2018
10 Legal, Medical, and Governmental Entities
Building Wraparound Support Systems to Meet Immigrants Where They Are The Education and Outreach Program works with a multifaceted network of advocates, nonprofits, community leaders, law students, and service providers to support vulnerable noncitizens directly in the communities they live in. The program is driven by needs identified by immigrant communities and uses a host of outreach strategies including immigration clinics, capacity building, in-person speaking events, livestreams, and volunteer engagement. The Medical Legal Collaborative was established in 2018 and brings together attorneys, doctors, nurses, social workers, and other providers to meet the needs of the underserved immigrant community. The Collaborative hosts pop-up clinics in parks, churches, schools, and community centers. With more than 40 events held across the state and hundreds of community members served, the clinics expanded services throughout the state and are a one-stop point for trusted information and legal and medical consultation, including free flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
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The COVID pandemic hit the immigrant community hard. Many immigrants are essential workers, and others work in the service industry that shut down during the pandemic. The collaborative worked to meet immigrants in safe places where they could obtain basic legal information and medical screenings.” — KATHY MOCCIO Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
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Education and Outreach
1,500+
2020 Annual Immigration Law Forum
Community Members Participated in
Critical Conversations: Racial Justice and the Immigrant Rights Movement
25 Events
The Binger Center’s work is rooted in combating systemic racism at the intersection of criminal, immigration and human rights law to protect the rights of immigrants and others affected by institutional barriers. The 2020 annual forum provided space to bring over 527 total community members into deepening conversations about racial lineages in the immigration system and how the immigrant rights movement can take action to advance racial justice. Organizations represented on the panels included the Wayfinder Foundation, Black Immigrant Collective, Until We Are All Free, Unidos, Just Futures Law, the Northside Achievement Zone, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, The Advocates for Human Rights, Council on American Islamic Relations, and the Black Visions Collective.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter was the keynote speaker of the Center’s 2020 Annual Immigration Law Forum.
2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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Detainee Rights Clinic
Class Action Lawsuit Leads to Release of Iraqi Asylum Seeker DETAINEE RIGHTS CLINIC BY THE NUMBERS FOR 2020–21
33 Detained Immigrants Represented in Bond Matters with Partners
93 Professor Linus Chan.
The Detainee Rights Clinic is led by Professor Linus Chan and trains students to provide merits and bond representation to immigrants being detained in Minnesota county jails. Students develop skills working directly with detained clients, filing habeas petitions, and pushing forward state advocacy to ensure fundamental protections for immigrants and advance institutional change of an unfair criminal justice and immigration system. The clinic represented Salman Albedhani (pictured left), an Iraqi immigrant who, after two years of representation, obtained lawful permanent residence, a “green card.” He was part of the nationwide Hamama Class Action Lawsuit filed in 2017 that argued that Iraqis who were arrested and detained would face persecution, torture, or death if deported, and therefore had the right to present a request for asylum case in front of an immigration judge.
Detained Immigrants Represented in Full Hearings This Year
12 Law Students Enrolled in the Detainee Rights Clinic
2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
Seeking Justice through the Writ of Habeas Corpus and Supreme Court Advocacy IMPACT LITIGATION BY THE NUMBERS IN 2020–21
16 Students Participated in the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
17 Cases at Several Circuit Courts of Appeal
Professor Benjamin Casper Sanchez ’97 (right).
Under the leadership of faculty director and Professor Benjamin Casper Sanchez ’97 and Visiting Clinical Professors Kathy Moccio and Nadia Anguiano-Wehde ’17, the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic equips students to lead complex impact litigation in collaboration with community partners at all federal court levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court. This past year, the Binger Center challenged the unlawful immigration incarceration of 10 clients through habeas corpus actions in U.S. District Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeals. In addition, 3Ls Mimi Alworth, Caleb Harrison, Valkyrie Jensen, Lee Anne Mills, Cayli Posch, Jonas Perrson, Seiko Shastri, and Alex Wolf worked on three distinct petitions for a writ of certiorari seeking merits review at the U.S. Supreme Court. One of these petitions involved a client who was unlawfully detained for more than 3 years, and who was granted an emergency stay of removal from a deportation flight in October.
3 Petitions for a Writ of Certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court
117 Total Federal Matters Handled
Pictured Left: 3Ls Mimi Alworth, Seiko Shastri, Lee Anne Mills, Valkyrie Jensen, Cayli Posch, and Jonas Perrson of the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic. 2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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“
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is that we can’t
make assumptions about our clients—what they are or are not capable of.” — YEMAYA HANNA, 3L Student Director, Immigration and Human Rights Clinic
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Immigration and Human Rights Clinic
Advocating for Asylum Seekers in a Hostile Climate BY THE NUMBERS IN 2020–21
13 Students Participated in the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic
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Professor Stephen Meili.
Cases Were
Led by Professor Stephen Meili and Clinical Adjunct Professor Emily Good ’03, students in the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic navigate a continually changing political climate to represent asylum seekers, victims of trafficking and detained immigrants. During the final months of the Trump administration, asylum seekers faced a series of obstacles aimed at severely limiting protection to people fleeing violence from Central America including women escaping domestic abuse situations, families fleeing gang violence, and people seeking protection on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. In a difficult case spanning years, and participation from numerous students and alumni and The Advocates for Human Rights, the clinic won asylum for a family from Mexico that narrowly escaped death at the hands of a cartel in Mexico after being unable to pay “rent” for their neighborhood store. Students and alumni Kelsey Friberg ’19, David Gomez ’19, 3L Emily Hauck, Toni Ojoyeyi ’19, Anna Somberg ’20, Emily Thornton ’20, and 3L Kristin Trapp represented the family in this powerful and rare victory when asylum for people affected by cartel violence in Mexico has narrowed substantially.
Asylum Victories
13 Individual or Family Members Protected from Persecution Based on Religion, Familial Ties, or Female Genital Mutilation From
4 Countries: El Salvador Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia
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The Rural Immigrant Access Clinic makes the community feel prepared so that if something goes wrong, they know what to do and how to react.”
— MA ELENA GUTIERREZ Director, Fe y Justicia
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Rural Immigrant Access Clinic
Building Virtual Alternatives to Support Rural Immigrants RURAL IMMIGRANT ACCESS CLINIC BY THE NUMBERS IN 2020–21
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Comprehensive Immigration Evaluations
200+
Community Members Reached via Livestream Executive Director Deepinder Mayell.
There are 45,000 food processing workers in Minnesota and 41% of them are foreign born. Although immigrants drive production of essential goods for distribution across the country, access to legal resources in rural areas is limited.
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Communities Reached in Rural Minnesota
Led by executive director of the Binger Center Deepinder Mayell, the Rural Immigrant Access Clinic, in partnership with community leaders and grassroots organizers across the state, offers comprehensive legal screenings in pop-up clinics in rural Minnesota. This past year, the clinic successfully adapted to the pandemic and law students offered remote sessions and presentations via livestreams about important immigration topics. The Binger Center partners with Fe y Justicia, a nonprofit organization based in Waite Park that lessens the resource gap in rural Minnesota and strengthens the Latino community through community-based clinics and services, advocacy efforts, and policy reform initiatives.
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I gained experience with clients of all ages and backgrounds, and with a multitude of immigration issues.” —MACKENZIE HEINRICHS ’18 Equal Justice Works Fellow, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
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Alumni Spotlight
Changemakers Multiply Impact Minnesota Law alumni are supporting vulnerable immigrants across the country. Mackenzie Heinrichs ’18, former student director in the Detainee Rights Clinic, is an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. In her fellowship, she has helped many young adults renew their complex DACA applications and has conducted extensive outreach with local schools in the Twin Cities area. Professor Linus Chan, director of the Detainee Rights Clinic, continues to serve as a mentor for Heinrichs, offering advice and expertise on complex immigration issues.
Alumni Across the Country Binger Center alumni join a long tradition of Minnesota Law graduates working in the immigration field across the nation.
Matthew Webster ’11 Immigration Attorney Fredrickson & Byron Minneapolis, MN
Seiko Shastri ’21 Legal Fellow Immigrant Defense Project Washington, D.C.
Cathy Chen ’14 Business Immigration Attorney Reach Law Group Campbell, CA
Robert Painter ’12 Legal Director American Gateways Austin, TX
2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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Faculty and Staff
Benjamin Casper Sanchez ’97 Faculty Director Associate Clinical Professor Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
Kathy Moccio Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
Deepinder Mayell
Linus Chan
Stephen Meili
Executive Director Director, Education and Outreach Lecturer in Law Rural Immigrant Access Clinic
Associate Clinical Professor Vaughan G. Papke Research Scholar Detainee Rights Clinic
Associate Professor James H. Binger Professor in Clinical Law Immigration and Human Rights Clinic
Nadia AnguianoWehde ’17
Marcail Distante
Lorena Anderson
Former Community Outreach and Program Coordinator
Executive Office and Administrative Specialist
Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor Immigration Advocacy Fellow Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic
Faculty Awards & Recognition Linus Chan was appointed the Vaughan G. Papke Research Scholar for 2021–23.
Faculty Publications Linus Chan Weighing Pain: How the Harm of Immigration Detention Must Be Factored in Custody Decisions, 27 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 865 (2021). Stephen Meili Asylum Under Attack: Is It Time for a Constitutional Right?, 26 Buffalo Human Rights Law Review 147 (2020).
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Adjunct Faculty
Elizabeth Bentley
John Bruning ’17
Mirella Ceja-Orozco
Paul Dimick ’19
Associate Attorney Jones Day
Staff Attorney, Refugee & Immigrant Program The Advocates for Human Rights
Co-Executive Director Minnesota Freedom Fund
Equal Justice Works Fellow ACLU-MN
Emily Good ’03
Mary Georgevich ’18
Julie Mao
Luis Cortes Romero
Pro Bono Projects Manager Legal Services State Support
Equal Justice Works Fellow Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Deputy Director Just Futures Law
Managing Partner Immigrant Advocacy & Litigation Center
James H. Binger Center for New Americans Publications & Reports Immigration Detention and COVID-19 in Minnesota: Illuminating Human Rights Concerns in Minnesota Jails, by Linus Chan & Marcail Distante ICE Intelligence Centers: How ICE Gathers Data to Conduct Raids and Deportations, by Linus Chan & Detainee Rights Clinic Students
Bao Phi
Country Conditions in Guatemala facing the LGBTQ+ Community: Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM), Stephen Meili & Immigration and Human Rights Clinic Students
Poet and Author Thousand Star Hotel A Different Pond 2020–21 ANNUAL REPORT
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