Arnold & Porter, Beveridge & Diamond, Covington, Crowell & Moring, and Sidley Austin brought safety, security, and a brighter future to thousands of lives.
WASHINGTON—Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (formerly known as the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition) is thrilled to honor five law firms that have brought safety, security, and a brighter future to thousands of immigrants in the capital region since 1999.
Arnold & Porter, Beveridge & Diamond, Covington, Crowell & Moring, and Sidley Austin will each receive Amica Center’s Foundational Partner Award at our anniversary celebration, “Defending One Another for 25 Years,” on September 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Tickets are free for members of the media and can be purchased by the public here.
Community leader and activist Edafe Okporo, author of Asylum: A Memoir and Manifesto (Simon & Schuster) will headline the event.
The Foundational Partner Award recognizes law firms that have been with Amica Center and our clients throughout our 25 years, making an enduring commitment to the fight for immigrant rights.
Arnold & Porter has been crucial to the growth of Amica Center, particularly with the creation of the Immigration Impact Lab (The Lab) in 2017. Every day, the immigration system fails children and adults who are detained. The Lab responds to these failings by strategically appealing cases, developing impact litigation, and launching advocacy efforts that have the potential to transform the system and establish new legal precedents for immigrants nationwide.
Beveridge & Diamond is being recognized for its unwavering commitment to immigrant children in the region’s juvenile immigration facilities, working with Amica Center’s Children’s Program. Children seeking safety should never be forced to face immigration court alone, and thanks to Beveridge & Diamond, children throughout the DC-area have been able to start new lives in a safe and welcoming home.
Covington employees have served on Amica Center’s Board of Directors and Legal Advisory Committee, providing guidance as the organization confronted emerging challenges in the rapidly shifting immigration landscape. Over the last decade, Covington attorneys have donated more than 14,000 pro bono hours to support Amica Center’s mission.
Crowell & Moring attorneys have fought alongside Amica Center clients through some of the most challenging days of their lives. They co-counseled the case of Maria Del Refugio Arita-Deras, a young mother seeking asylum after fleeing gang violence in Honduras. Arita-Deras final order of removal was overturned in a unanimous opinion from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which agreed that the Board of Immigration Appeals had “improperly discounted Arita-Deras’ corroborating evidence, applied an incorrect legal standard for determining past persecution, and erred in its nexus determination.”
Sidley Austin is being recognized for its unwavering commitment to the Amica Center mission, embodied in its pro bono attorneys who have dedicated more than 3,300 pro bono hours to Amica Center clients over the last decade. Sidley Austin attorneys were instrumental in defeating the “Death to Asylum” rule in court, a policy that would have rendered it all but impossible for immigrant children and adults to access the life-saving protection asylum is meant to provide.
“Everyone has the right to be free, safe, and supported. Given the myriad challenges that exist for immigrants navigating our nation’s convoluted, often contradictory immigration laws, no one should have to face an immigration judge alone,” said Kathy Doan, Chief Executive Officer at Amica Center. “Our pro bono partners at Arnold & Porter, Beveridge & Diamond, Covington, Crowell & Moring, and Sidley Austin have been with our organization and clients from the beginning, bringing safety, security, and a brighter future to thousands of lives. Their contributions are priceless, and the Foundational Partner Award is a small token of our gratitude for all that we have accomplished together and will continue to accomplish in the years to come.”
About the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights
Amica Center for Immigrant Rights engages in unwavering legal defense and strategic litigation for immigrants facing detention or deportation, regardless of background, because everyone has the right to be safe, free, and supported.