Center News

The James H. Binger Center for New Americans provided legal training to over 1000 attorneys, law students and community members through its Fall Immigration Forum and Continuing Legal Education events. Students and faculty in three of the Binger Center’s immigration clinics contributed to training for lawyers on habeas corpus, recent legislation, current litigation and the latest updates in asylum law. 

The James H. Binger Center for New Americans held its annual Fall Immigration Forum on Friday, November 7. The forum explored the themes of being, becoming, and belonging for immigrant communities within the American experiment. More than 200 people registered to attend the Fall Forum in person and online.

The Binger Center for New Americans is proud to release its 2024-25 Annual Report.  The report focuses on their collaborative work alongside students, clients and partners from July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025.  The report is built around their 2024-28 strategic plan and highlights the Center’s strides in their key strategies. The work of the Binger Center has never been more vital. Their steadfast partners continue to bridge the gaps left by federal cuts, while their collaborations to train and empower lawyers and community advocates have deepened in impact.

As an undergraduate at Whitman College in Washington, Meg Keiser ’25 minored in Spanish and then interned at an immigration law firm her senior year. From that moment on, she knew she wanted to work in the field. While looking at options for law school, the Minnesota native was drawn to Minnesota Law due primarily to the James H. Binger Center for New Americans.

The University of Minnesota Law School is pleased to announce that Ana Pottratz Acosta will join Minnesota Law as a visiting professor during the 2025-26 academic year. She will lead the Immigration & Human Rights Clinic, part of the Law School's James H. Binger Center for New Americans. 

The Binger Center for New Americans held its annual Fall Immigration Forum on Friday, October 11.  The daylong event included more than 100 attendees and featured 20 panelists who explored the rights of immigrants to thrive within the U.S. economy. Legal and policy scholars discussed how the immigration system often extracts wealth from immigrant communities rather than creating opportunities for them to build it.

The University of Minnesota Law School is seeking applicants who are recent law graduates for an Immigration Litigation and Advocacy Fellowship with the James H. Binger Center for New Americans. The fellowship will begin in August 2025 and is anticipated to be a two-year commitment based on an annual, renewable appointment, with an optional third year.

Professor Linus Chan, James H.

Mahmoud Ahmed, Education, Community, Outreach and Research Coordinator at the James H. Binger Center for New Americans, has been named a fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC). Alongside this prestigious fellowship, Ahmed has begun a Master of Human Rights (MHR) degree at the University’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, in collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts.

Minnesota Law’s Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic (FILC) — part of the James H. Binger Center for New Americans— has partnered with the American Immigration Council to publish a new practice advisory to assist practitioners in advocating for noncitizen clients before the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) and the U.S. Courts of Appeals, particularly in cases in which the government contends that a criminal conviction renders the client removable from the United States.