Maheen Kaleem
Host: Rights4Girls
Sponsor: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.
Alison (Ali) empowered and educated immigrant mothers by providing them holistic direct representation and developing a coalition to bring them sustained attention and assistance.
More than 50,000 Chicago households include a family member who is undocumented. Nationally, only 37 percent of all immigrants secure legal representation in their removal cases. Immigrant mothers who are in removal proceedings are at risk of being separated from their children and are often suffering the emotional consequences that come with it like anxiety, depression, and guilt. These women need access to legal counsel that will help them navigate their immigration status and provide particularized attention to legal questions resulting from their status as mothers. Ali’s project provided a new model of representation to ensure we recognize the immigrant mother’s plight.
During the two-year Fellowship, Allison:
Ali will continue to work at Beyond Legal Aid as a Staff Attorney. She looks forward to continuing her work and relationships with local activist and community partners.
Exelon's Inaugural Fellow to Spend Two Years Helping Immigrant Mothers
Alison Heinen, 3L, Named 2019 Equal Justice Works Fellow
My goal is to help immigrant mothers maintain the dignity that is so often stripped away in immigration detention and throughout the removal defense process.
Alison Siczek /
Equal Justice Works Fellow
Host: Rights4Girls
Sponsor: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.
Host: Northwest Justice Project
Sponsor: Friends and Family of Philip M. Stern
Host: Tahirih Justice Center
Sponsor: BP, The Arnold & Porter Foundation
Host: Urban Justice Center
Sponsor: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP