Immigration Asylum Project underway
By Shellyn Shoenthal
For The Lawyers Journal
Oct. 18, 2005—The Immigration Project, a collaboration of the Pittsburgh Regional Immigrant Assistance Center (PRIAC) of Jewish Family & Children's Service and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation's (ACBF) Public Service Committee, is underway with unwavering success.
The project was developed to give Pittsburgh attorneys the opportunity to use their legal expertise to take on pro bono immigrant asylum cases, thus extending the capacity of legal cases that PRIAC can commit to. The cases being assigned are to assist immigrants who are fleeing their country in fear of political, religious, ethnic, and gender-based persecution.
The immediate goal of the Immigration Project is to train attorneys to work on asylum cases, with the long-term goal of training volunteer attorneys to work on various other legal immigration issues.
Attorneys responded to the call for volunteers in large numbers, and continue to respond, thanks to the persistent outreach by Gina M. Godfrey, project director and immigration attorney for PRIAC, and Lorrie K. Albert, pro bono coordinator for ACBF.
Training for more than 80 legal professionals, who received CLE credit, took place in late May, and now the project is assigning, on average, one case per week to trained attorneys. Because some cases can take over two years before a final decision is made, depending on the preparedness of the client and the complexity of the case, it's critical to the project's success that there is a large pool of attorneys to assign cases.
Godfrey administered the training and is continuing with managing and mentoring the attorneys through their cases.
"I have found immigration law to be both professionally and personally rewarding, and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to share the experience with my peers and, in turn, know that PRIAC has the capacity to help many more immigrants with their legal needs," said Godfrey.
One of the first cases was assigned to Chris Cahillane, a commercial litigation attorney for Tucker Arensberg, P.C. Cahillane's case involves a young college student from South Central Africa who is here on a student visa and hopes to win the right to continue living in the U.S.
As with many attorneys, Cahillane was seeking an exciting opportunity to fulfill his pro bono and CLE needs. After the training, and talking with Godfrey, he knew that he wanted the opportunity to help, as he put it, "strangers in a strange land," who, without legal help, could be forced back to native lands plagued with persecution.
He recounts his thoughts in a conversation with his young client, "I couldn't help but think as a father, that if the tables were turned, I hope someone would help my little girl find the safety and opportunity she deserves."
He said, "Although there are a lot of pro bono opportunities out there for lawyers, the Immigration Project is unique in that it is dealing with freedoms that in America you come to expect, but in other countries you could be killed for them. Knowing that your involvement could help keep someone from being persecuted in their home country is a good feeling."
PRIAC is the region's only recognized immigration service center approved by the Department of Justice Board of Immigrant Appeals, to provide immigration services to foreign-born individuals with limited financial resources. Accredited representatives and immigration attorneys offer services at nominal fees to individuals of any race, religion, or nationality.
PRIAC is located at Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh at 5743 Bartlett Street in Squirrel Hill.