The City Bar Justice Center’s Immigrant Justice Project (IJP) has been fighting for human rights and due process within the immigration system since the 1980s, when the project emerged to train volunteer lawyers needed to represent Haitian asylum seekers whose claims were being summarily and discriminatorily dismissed. IJP has continued to serve asylum seekers fleeing persecution, survivors of violent crimes and trafficking in the United States, and individuals seeking humanitarian protection and other forms of relief - all of whom face a system that often perpetuates the disparate treatment of communities of color.  Two recent highlights, detailed below, exemplify IJP’s recent work.

In December 2021, one of IJP’s clients was granted asylum after fleeing her home in Burkina Faso in 2014 to escape female genital mutilation (“FGM”) and a polygamous, forced marriage to a man several decades her senior. The client timely filed for asylum in 2015 but was caught in the asylum backlog. After years of protracted uncertainty and fear, the client was finally interviewed in June 2021. During the interview, a legal team from one of IJP’s pro bono partner firms made clear that the client’s marriage would continue to be enforced against her will and that she reasonably feared being subjected to FGM, which was outlawed in 1996 but remains a deeply embedded social practice. After six long years, the client received the happy news of her asylum grant and she now looks forward to finally moving on with her life, and to living safely and with dignity.

Other recent highlights include IJP successfully reuniting several U-visa clients with their children. For the first time in fifteen years, one of our clients rang in the new year with all three of her children – her two oldest children from Peru, together with her youngest U.S. citizen son. In December 2021, the two older children received U3 visas after attending consular interviews in Peru, and were able to enter the U.S. lawfully. Three years from now, together with their mother, the children will be able to apply for their legal permanent residence. This story is just one of a recent string of IJP clients welcoming children long-separated by distance, borders, and immigration status. In December alone, IJP reunited four children with their parents, and three more children had consular interviews scheduled in January. It’s a bright spot after a long year marked by COVID-related restrictions and uncertainty.

If you are interested in learning more about CBJC’s Immigrant Justice Project and available pro bono opportunities, please contact Cassandra Celestin, Director of Pro Bono Initiatives, at ccelestin@nycbar.org.