Ming Cheung

The Project

Ming’s project used impact litigation to protect the rights of children and families seeking refuge in the United States.

In recent years, children and families fleeing persecution and violence have been unlawfully denied the right to asylum—and the federal government has also cruelly detained many unaccompanied children for months instead of allowing them to reunite with their families. As a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Ming served as counsel in several class actions and successfully advocated for safe and lawful pathways for unaccompanied children and vulnerable families to enter the United States and reunite with their loved ones.

Ming is committed to protecting the rights of immigrant children because of his own experience immigrating to the United States as a child. After spending several years apart from his family during his childhood, he became the first in his family to graduate college and attend law school. Ming hopes to use his legal training to empower others who do not have access to the opportunities he and his family had.

Fellowship Highlights

• Obtained a class-wide injunction that prohibited the federal government from summarily expelling unaccompanied children from the United States.
• Secured a class-wide injunction on behalf of migrant families, requiring the federal government to screen families for fear of persecution or torture prior to any expulsion.
• Coordinated a border-wide referral system that enabled thousands of vulnerable individuals to quickly enter the United States and be reunited with their families, obtain critical medical care, and escape violence and persecution.
• Secured court approval of a classwide settlement that reduces delays in the reunification of unaccompanied children with their families and sponsors in the United States.

Next Steps

Ming will remain at the American Civil Liberties Union as a staff attorney in the Voting Rights Project. He will use litigation to protect the right to vote throughout the country.

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