New Mexico Immigrant Law Center’s FREE CLE on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) / Odyssey E-filing for Pro Bono Attorneys

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Participate in the SIJS Clinic

Dear Pro Bono Attorneys,

You are invited to attend the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center’s CLE on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)/Odyssey E-filing for Pro Bono Attorneys and participate in the SIJS Clinic. This is an opportunity to earn a FREE CLE credit (and .5 ethics credit!), get trained on tangible skills to assist NMILC clients applying for SIJS, and immediately apply those skills at the clinic following the CLE.

Pro bono attorneys are an integral part of NMILC’s SIJS program. SIJS is a status available to some young immigrants that provides a path to lawful permanent residence (a “green card”) for that child. In order to be eligible for SIJS, the child must be subject to a predicate order from a state court in which the court finds that the child has been abandoned, abused, or neglected by one or both parents. We rely on assistance from pro bono attorneys who are willing to obtain time-sensitive predicate orders necessary to begin SIJS proceedings, which will be the focus of this CLE and clinic. During the clinic, pro bono attorneys will be assigned uncontested kinship/guardianship or sole custody cases, and will meet with the clients in-person to complete this first step of their case. NMILC will provide support/mentorship from experienced staff/pro bono attorneys, templates, and step-by-step instructions to help you. No family law or immigration law experience is required.

All pro bono attorneys will be asked to attend the CLE and provide assistance to one pre-assigned SIJS client during the clinic that will immediately follow the CLE (see event agenda below). Pro bono attorneys are invited to continue providing pro bono legal services on NMILC SIJS cases following the CLE/clinic, on an ongoing basis that can be flexible depending on your schedule. Though this ongoing pro bono assistance following the clinic is not required for your participation in the events on October 28, continued pro bono support is incredibly impactful for SIJS clients and their families!

Below are the CLE/Clinic event details:

When: Friday, October 28, 2022 from 10:45 a.m. - 5 p.m. MT

• 10:45 a.m. - 11 a.m. - Sign-In for CLE and clinic
• 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - SIJS State Predicate Order CLE
• 12:30 - 1 p.m. - Odyssey e-filing training
• 1 - 2 p.m. - Lunch (provided by NMILC and partners) and panel with past NMILC SIJS clients
• 2 - 5 p.m. - SIJS Clinic (attorney provide services to NMILC SIJS clients and petitioners)

Where: The Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd Street NW, Albuquerque, N.M. 87102

Earn 1 FREE CLE credit and .5 ethics credit!

To register for the CLE/Clinic event, please fill out this form: https://dsnp.co/744UhB

Please note that advanced registration by Oct.14 is required to earn CLE credits and participate in the clinic. We will limit the number of pro bono participants at a certain point, so if you know you want to participate please sign up at your earliest convenience!

If you have any questions, please email NMILC Volunteer/Pro Bono Manager, Delaney Swink, at dswink@nmilc.org.

For those who wish to support NMILC's work in other ways, please consider donating here, signing up for our newsletter, and checking out other pro bono attorney opportunities on our website!

Thank you for supporting NMILC’s mission and programs!

Sincerely,

The NMILC team

P.S. Read our blog post by clicking on the image to the right and watch the video below to learn about the ways SIJS positively impacts our clients' lives!

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New Mexico Immigrant Law Center

www.nmilc.org

PO Box 7040

Albuquerque, NM 87194-7040

This email was sent by the State Bar of New Mexico on behalf of the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.

Please send any questions regarding this email to please email NMILC Volunteer/Pro Bono Manager, Delaney Swink, at dswink@nmilc.org.