Representing Children and Families in Immigration Matters Pro Bono 101 Training

Webinar Description:

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Immigration and the ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA) co-hosted a complimentary training in March 2022 geared toward pro bono attorneys working with children and families in immigration cases.

The presentation provided an overview of the key forms of legal relief when working with children and families in immigration cases such as asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and other humanitarian forms of relief. Additionally, presenters provided an introduction to representing an individual in removal proceedings and before USCIS. The training also covered practical skills key to effective representation such as interviewing skills when working with children and families. The presentation aimed to provide guidance, practical pointers, and resources to guide advocates in their representation. The presenters concluded by providing information on ways to get involved in representing children and families through two platforms, Pro Bono Matters for Children Facing Deportation and Pro Bono Matters for Families Facing Deportation.

CLE Self-Reporting Survey form This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 3 credit hours, of which .25 credit hours will apply to legal ethics/professional responsibility credit until 2/28/2023. If you are licensed in Texas and would like to obtain CLE credit, please fill out this form. You will find the course number at the end which you can use to self-report your attendance into the Texas Bar website. If you are not licensed in Texas but plan to seek credit in your jurisdiction, please indicate your state and CILA can prepare a participation letter for you to submit to your Bar or the DOJ for credit.

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Slides:

1. Nuts and Bolts: Common Forms of Immigration Legal Relief
2. Practice before USCIS & Removal Proceedings 101
3. Interviewing Skills When Working With Children and Families
4. CILA and COI presentation: How to Get Involved

Resources:

Training Agenda

Speakers' Bios

Get Involved

Quick Links Handouts: #1 / #2 / #3

CILA has many written resources and recorded trainings that may assist you in your pro bono representation, and we recommend that you view other sections of CILA's website to access these. For example, CILA's Pro Bono Guide: Working with Children in Immigration Matters is available to view here. View CILA's webinar Immigration Judge Perspectives on Pro Bono Representation and Best Practices to learn more. Feel free to reach out to us at probono@abacila.org if you have any questions or if you are looking for a resource on a particular subject that relates to your pro bono case.