What We Do
The Asylum Clinic KC offers free legal consultations to anyone referred to us through one of our many partner organizations, both locally and nationwide. We prioritize offering representation to unaccompanied minors who are released from Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters around the country to sponsors in the Kansas City area. These children, although in removal proceedings, are often eligible to apply for asylum with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and they may also be eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile status (for minors who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected). Since our founding, our clinic has provided legal consultations to over 105 individuals.
ACKC will accept various case types for full representation. We represent many young adults seeking Temporary Protected Status (TPS). We have partnered with Legal Aid’s Volunteer Attorney Project (VAP) to assist low-income legal permanent residents in applying for naturalization. We have also partnered with Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR) to coordinate pro se workshops for unrepresented asylum applicants who are unlikely to find representation but need assistance navigating their own cases.
ACKC is currently funded principally by two grants that allow it to serve two distinct immigrant populations: the 750 Afghan evacuees who arrived to Western Missouri in Fall of 2021 and unaccompanied minors while detained or post release from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. ACKC is actively pursuing expansion opportunities including fellowship programs, grant funding, pro bono case placement with attorney mentorship, and additional community partnerships.
Current Programs
1
Unaccompanied Children Program
Our Unaccompanied Children Program, together with our sister organization, McCrummen Immigration Law Group, provides know-your-rights presentations and individual legal screenings to detained immigrant children in the Kansas City area. Unaccompanied children are children who have entered the U.S. without their parents and are placed in a group home or facility while awaiting reunification with a sponsor. Some of these children attend hearings in immigration court while they are detained. We strongly believe that no child should have to face immigration court without an attorney. We provide both representation for detained children and advocacy for children who have been released from detention.
2
Afghan Legal Services Project
Missouri received 1,750 Afghan evacuees for resettlement in Fall 2021. The Missouri Office of Refugee Administration has designated Asylum Clinic Kansas City to serve as legal services coordinator for the resettlement agencies serving Afghan evacuees in western Missouri. We are proud to serve this role and invite you to join us in this important work.
3
Pro Bono Placement Program
We are currently expanding our pro bono case placement and mentorship capacity in order to amplify services. ACKC mentors local attorneys in their representation of children in State Court and Immigration Court, the first step in seeking SIJ classification. We currently have cases placed with local attorneys at both Stinson and Shook, Hardy & Bacon.