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There's an Army of Local Lawyers Itching to Fight Trump's Policies
My profession has some great people in it https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/volunteer-lawyers-are-lining-up-to-fight-trump-policies
Lost in the noise over the Trump administration’s policies at the border is the difference between illegal immigrants and people seeking legal asylum. Walther, who runs her own law firm in Minneapolis, is now organizing other attorneys to volunteer remotely, helping prepare legal briefs on behalf of asylum seekers, or to volunteer in the detention centers themselves. She’s also handling pro bono the asylum case of a Honduran family she met at Karnes. They recently moved to Minneapolis with the help of a sponsor family after being released—Walther met them on her plane home.
Walther is one of a growing number of lawyers, interpreters and other professionals across the U.S. claimed as members of Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit whose founder says it’s nonpartisan, but progressive. (The group said that 10 percent to 15 percent of its 125,000 Facebook followers are active members, by either volunteering or donating.) Little known outside legal circles, the organization was launched as a Facebook group the day after Donald Trump was elected president. L4GG screens attorneys such as Walther—who heads the group’s Minnesota chapter—and funnels them to legal services groups. “L4GG has people who identify as independents, Republicans, Democrats—it’s all across the spectrum,” she said.
After the first Trump administration ban on travel to the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries, the group directed hundreds of lawyers via the web to airports across the nation, coordinated volunteers with legal services groups and had international members hand out know-your-rights flyers in more than 20 languages at airports around the world. L4GG also runs programs in areas including prevention of voter suppression and environmental protection. Adam Cohen, a Westchester, N.Y., attorney who joined L4GG’s board of directors last year, said there are a lot of attorneys out there “dying to do something, not just donate money.”
But showing up isn’t all that’s needed—many practitioners have little or no experience in these arenas. Full-time civil rights advocates such as Terri Burke, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, welcome the outpouring, with the caveat that volunteers need to be trained and managed to be effective.
Walther is one of a growing number of lawyers, interpreters and other professionals across the U.S. claimed as members of Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit whose founder says it’s nonpartisan, but progressive. (The group said that 10 percent to 15 percent of its 125,000 Facebook followers are active members, by either volunteering or donating.) Little known outside legal circles, the organization was launched as a Facebook group the day after Donald Trump was elected president. L4GG screens attorneys such as Walther—who heads the group’s Minnesota chapter—and funnels them to legal services groups. “L4GG has people who identify as independents, Republicans, Democrats—it’s all across the spectrum,” she said.
After the first Trump administration ban on travel to the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries, the group directed hundreds of lawyers via the web to airports across the nation, coordinated volunteers with legal services groups and had international members hand out know-your-rights flyers in more than 20 languages at airports around the world. L4GG also runs programs in areas including prevention of voter suppression and environmental protection. Adam Cohen, a Westchester, N.Y., attorney who joined L4GG’s board of directors last year, said there are a lot of attorneys out there “dying to do something, not just donate money.”
But showing up isn’t all that’s needed—many practitioners have little or no experience in these arenas. Full-time civil rights advocates such as Terri Burke, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, welcome the outpouring, with the caveat that volunteers need to be trained and managed to be effective.
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