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Urgent and Available Cases

NIJC's network of pro bono attorneys represent asylum seekers, unaccompanied immigrant children, survivors of domestic abuse and low-income individuals applying for naturalization. NIJC screens all cases to ensure individuals are eligible for relief and to prioritize individuals and families who lack the private resources needed to obtain representation elsewhere.

NIJC pro bono attorneys receive training before taking on their first case, and ongoing technical assistance and case support as necessary throughout the life of each case.

Learn about being a pro bono attorney and see the case list for people who need representation.

Asylum: M. seeks safety from potential forced marriage and death

M. speaks French and lives in Chicago

When M.’s husband died unexpectedly, his family and other members of the Mono community forced M. to participate in burial and widowhood rituals they knew were against her Christian religion. They demanded she marry her late husband’s HIV positive brother. The tribe/family adhere to strict (Voudou) traditions that suspect widows of causing a husband’s unexpected death and perceive widows as tribal property. M. fled Benin to escape forced marriage and potential death, leaving behind her four minor children. 

Deadline: Merits hearing on 8/19/25

Asylum: A. and her family seek protection from an abusive husband and father

A. and her family speak Spanish and live in Central Illinois

A.’s partner abused A. and their children, raped A., and controlled her. He became particularly violent after she gave birth to their second daughter because he was angry that the child was a girl. A. has long-term hearing loss as a result of the abuse. A.’s partner forced her daughter, C., to scavenge for food at a local dump, attempted to sell C. to a drug trafficker, and threatened to rape C. When A. moved with her children to another part of Guatemala, her partner found them and threatened to kill them with the help of his drug trafficking associates. Fearing for their lives, A. fled with B. to the United States, followed separately by C. A.'s two youngest daughters, D. and E., joined them in the United States several years later. 

Deadline: Merits hearing on 8/28/25

Asylum: A family seeks protection from gang violence

R. and her family speak Spanish and live in Chicago

H. witnessed a gang engaging in suspicious activity at a neighbor’s house. Law enforcement arrived shortly after, leading the gang to assume that H. reported them to the police. Following this incident, the gang terrorized the family on numerous occasions by extorting them, attacking them, and assaulting the two eldest children. The family also suspects that the gang murdered R.’s nephew by staging a fatal car accident in which he was killed. C. suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her former partner who had ties to the same gang that targeted the rest of the family. The second eldest child has an additional claim based on a sexual assault that the gang committed against her. 

Deadline: Merits hearing on 8/28/25

"Working with NIJC and its clients has been an incredible personal and professional experience for me. Our clients inspire me with their perseverance and hopefulness. I appreciate the opportunity to assist them as they pursue new pathways in their lives."
Ashleigh Ricardo, Winston & Strawn LLP
 

Pro Bono Spotlight

Thanks to the support of more than 2,000 pro bono attorneys from the nation's leading law firms, NIJC has made critical advances in the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. NIJC provides legal services to more than 9,000 individuals each year and maintains a success rate of 90 percent in obtaining asylum for those fleeing persecution in their home countries.

 

Events

NIJC offers a wide range of immigration law trainings and other opportunities for attorneys to engage with the organization's mission. An attorney taking a case for the first time must attend one of NIJC's quarterly trainings.

 

Federal Litigation

NIJC and its pro bono attorneys are on the vanguard of federal impact litigation and advocacy, setting positive precedents for people seeking human rights protections within the United States and defending against the administration's efforts to undermine access to due process.