Program areas at Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
General legal services: the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ilcm) provides brief legal advice, referrals, and representation in a variety of immigration matters to support immigrants and refugees in achieving security, opportunity and prosperity. Immigration matters handled include applications for temporary protected status (tps); deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) renewals; special Immigrant juvenile status (sijs) for abused and neglected children; u and t visas and violence against women act (vawa) protection for survivors of domestic violence and other serious crimes; green cards; citizenship, and defenses against deportation. In 2023 ilcm worked on 3,033 cases.
Community defense project: this project responds to the evolving need for deportation defense to keep families together. The project provides advice and brief service to detainees in custody, represents detained and non-detained clients who qualify for asylum or other protections against deportation, and presents appeals to defend the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental liberties of immigrants. The project also supports impact litigation that protects and advances the civil rights of immigrants through a partnership with the university of Minnesota, nonprofits, and private Law firms.
Rural immigration project: this project provides legal representation and education to immigrants and their families living in greater Minnesota. This project focuses on providing services in the areas of Minnesota where the highest Immigrant and refugee populations reside and immigration legal services are least available. Services are based out of satellite offices in austin, moorhead, and worthington. Almost 20% of ilcm's 2023 cases - 550 - were in greater Minnesota.
New beginnings project: this project supports Immigrant survivors of domestic violence or other serious crimes and unaccompanied children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected to obtain lawful status, thereby gaining the personal and economic self-sufficiency needed to escape the cycle of violence. The project works closely with social service organizations and Law enforcement to provide comprehensive support to these clients.
Temporary protected status project: this project provides representation for individuals from countries granted tps from the secretary of the department of homeland security (dhs). Tps is a temporary immigration status for individuals who are unable to return home safely due to civil war, natural disaster, or other conditions or circumstances preventing their return to their home country. During the designated tps period, tps holders cannot be deported from the united states and cannot be detained by dhs on the basis of their immigration status. Tps holders are eligible for an employment authorization document (ead) and for travel authorization.
Pro bono project:this project increases ilcm's capacity to serve Immigrant and refugee communities by recruiting, training, and supervising private attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants to assist clients in becoming naturalized u.s. citizens and renewing their daca status. Pro bono attorneys have also assisted in family reunification cases, deportation defense, impact litigation and appeals, and commenting on proposed regulations. In 2023, 70 pro bono attorneys reported a total of 2,654 hours of legal services to ilcm clients.
Refugee services project: this project supports refugees, asylees, ukrainian parolees, and afghan parolees and special Immigrant visa holders in applying for employment authorization, lawful permanent resident status and replacement of green cards, and citizenship. In providing these services, the project collaborates with refugee resettlement and community organizations across Minnesota.
Dreamers project: this project provides legal representation and outreach for current recipients of the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) program who are eligible to renew their daca status. Daca was established in august 2012, and there have been efforts to eliminate the program since 2017. Currently, initial applications cannot be filed. The project supports daca holders with renewing their status, which confers employment authorization and protection from deportation.
Advocacy project: ilcm works at a systems-level to promote fair and just public policies that support Immigrant and refugee communities. Ilcm works directly with the Immigrant community, Immigrant advocates, nonprofits, business and civic leaders, Law enforcement, and policymakers to increase awareness of the contributions and needs of immigrants and refugees and to advocate for welcoming policies at the local, state, and federal levels. In 2023, ilcm reached over 7,500 individuals through its action alert advocacy emails and countless others through press articles and radio and television appearances.
Education:ilcm complements its legal advice and representation services with quality education and training sessions, including continuing legal education (cle) sessions and community presentations on a variety of immigration-related subjects. Presentations are tailored to meet the needs of each individual group and provide accurate and up-to-date written materials where appropriate. In 2023, ilcm reached over 3,300 people through outreach activities. Participants in our education efforts included immigrants, judges, attorneys, advocates, and Law enforcement. Much of ilcm's education efforts in 2023 centered around immigration legal developments, driver's licenses for all, and citizenship.
North dakota immigration projectilcm also opened an office in fargo, north dakota in 2022 to provide services to refugees, asylees, and new arrivals from afghanistan and ukraine. This project focuses on applications for employment authorization, green cards, and citizenship. Since the fargo office opened in 2022, the project has worked on over 300 cases.
Public defenders project:this project provides backup technical assistance to Minnesota public defenders on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions as required by the u.s. supreme court's decision in padilla v. Kentucky. The advice provided is critical to minimize the collateral immigration consequencesincluding loss of status and deportationthat could result from a criminal charge or prosecution.
Citizenship project:this project focuses on increasing the number of lawful permanent residents in Minnesota who apply for and obtain united states citizenship. The project also builds collaborations across sectors to promote the importance of citizenship in increasing civic engagement and strengthening communities.