Amica Center for Immigrant Rights Honors Arnold Porter at 25th Anniversary Event
Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (formerly known as Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition) honored Arnold & Porter with the “Foundational Partner Award” at its 25th Anniversary event last Thursday, September 26. The award recognizes that Arnold & Porter attorneys and staff have worked with Amica Center and its clients throughout Amica Center’s 25 years, including handling numerous pro bono asylum and other immigration cases and related projects, as a partner in the fight for immigrant rights.
Over the last decade, the firm has donated about 9,000 pro bono hours, and Arnold & Porter attorneys and staff have participated in Amica Center’s annual Spring for Justice peer-to-peer fundraiser since its launch in 2020. Amica Center also highlighted that the firm has been crucial to its growth, particularly with the creation of and participation in the Immigration Impact Lab, which responds to failings of the immigration system by strategically appealing cases of detained children and adults and developing impact litigation with the potential to transform the system and establish new legal precedents for immigrants nationwide. Over the past 25 years, in addition to working with the Immigration Impact Lab, Arnold & Porter attorneys and staff have participated in legal orientation programs at detention centers, credible fear interviews, defensive asylum cases in Immigration Court for detained immigrants, habeas proceedings, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases, and other matters.
Lawrence Schneider accepted the award on behalf of the firm. Schneider, who plays a central role in Arnold & Porter’s extensive, award-winning pro bono immigration practice, was honored in 2022 with the organization’s inaugural “Lifetime Advocate Award” and has been Chair of Amica Center’s Legal Advisory Committee since 2011.
Amica Center provides legal defense and strategic litigation for immigrant children and adults facing detention and deportation, standing with its clients “to fight for the safety, stability, and opportunity everyone deserves.”