National Immigration Justice Center Holds Roundtable at Kelley Drye’s Chicago Office

On August 4, 2011, the Chicago office hosted a roundtable discussion for the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) Asylum Project’s local and nationwide pro bono attorneys. The NIJC Asylum Project offers free legal services, with volunteer attorneys who represent immigrant children, immigrant survivors of domestic abuse, low-income individuals applying for naturalization and persons seeking asylum. 

The session focused on the statutory requirement of being in a ​“particular social group,” which some applicants must meet to receive asylum. The roundtable panelists reviewed case law and the requirement of a nexus between harm and the ​“particular social group.” The speakers discussed creating and defining ​“particular social groups” and interviewing survivors of gender violence. Twenty attorneys from various law firms attended the event and many others participated through NIJC’s on-line conferencing. NIJC’s managing attorney, Lisa Koop; supervising attorney, Ashley Huebner; and legal intern, Katie Kersh, served as the roundtable panelists.