President Don Zillman had the pleasure of introducing some of his associates from the University of Southern Maine School of Law and did so with the detail and dignity that is emblematic of his character. Don also introduced our guest speaker, Professor Anna Welch, who spearheads the University’s outreach to refugee and asylum seekers coming to the United States to start a new life of freedom.
Professor Welch clarified the difference between a refugee and an individual seeking asylum from their native country. Welch became interested while in high school of the trials and travail of those who are forced by circumstances far beyond their control to leave their homeland and try to start a new life. Those seeking asylum are distinguished from the refugee because they are forced to flee their country in order to save their lives. Asylum seekers are not motivated by economics, they are forced by politics to save their lives. The asylum seekers have been prominently in the news the past few years and the numbers have been overwhelming for the United States and many other countries. Maine has long been willing to assist this population, with Catholic Charities taking an active role to help this population get situated and actively involved in the community. They are not coming here looking for a hand out. They are wanting to get a job, contribute to the state and establish a new home for their family. Before Catholic Charities can help, the refugee and asylum seeker must get through the daunting labyrinth of the immigration laws of the U.S. This is where Professor Welch and her legal clinic team get involved. Anna started the clinic in 2012 with two primary goals....the first was to give the students practical, hard nosed, real life experience as they commit to the practice of this distinct avenue of law;....the second, and the nucleus, is to assist those who are being persecuted by their governments, cultural norms (domestic violence), and criminal elements to the point where they have to forsake home and all that they have in order to escape to a place where they can try to survive and create a new life.
Most of the refugees and people seeking asylum are intent on following the laws of the country and are convinced that they can prove that they are fleeing circumstances that are profoundly outrageous to any civilization. It’s not enough to just have a compelling story, they must navigate the legal system in place to protect our country from those who do not share our values. Without proper legal counsel only 12% of the asylum seekers can gain legal entry to the United States.
While the cases are litigated, many of the families are separated and at risk of losing touch. The cases take many months, often years, to make it through the legal maze to a conclusion. While the wheels are cranking, the children are often placed into foster care and some are put up for adoption. Making a life altering decision which is involved in these cases is an enormous burden. When you are facing a family that has given up everything, traveled hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles over perilous terrain, it’s more than just difficult to make the decision to take a case or abandon a family to proceed pro se, when you know the chances are slim.
The clinic has made a huge difference in many lives. To be sure, the refugee and asylum group is being mightily affected, since it can be life or death. Parenthetically, the law students involved are gaining an insight and often making a life altering decision concerning their chosen profession. The graduates who commit to human rights law are not likely to make it to the ranks of the “white shoe law firms” and make huge sums of money. They are in it for the people, not the profit!
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(Photo L-R: third-year Law Student (Graduate as of Saturday) Hanni Pastinen, third-year Law Student (Saturday graduate) Joann Bautista, President Don Zillman and Anna Welch, Sam Cohen Refugee and Human Rights Clinical Professor, UMaine Law School.)