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.
Keiser graduated this spring after taking full advantage of all that the law school has to offer aspiring immigration lawyers. That included four semesters working — for pay and class credit — at Karam Law, an immigration firm in Bloomington. Keiser credits her Binger Center field placement for preparing her so well to be a full-time lawyer. In the fall, she’ll start a new job at the small private immigration firm Nwokocha and Operana Law Offices in Minneapolis.
“I took the two main immigration law classes at Minnesota Law, and that’s a great foundation,” Keiser says. “But until you get in front of a client and you’re talking about their story and everything they’ve gone through and what their immigration goals are, it’s difficult to know how to apply that classroom knowledge. In immigration law, people skills are essential, and that’s just something you don’t get in a classroom setting.”
The Binger Center was founded in 2013 and functions as a hub to support immigration advocacy and the education of future immigration lawyers. The center houses four immigration law clinics and enrolls approximately 35 certified student attorneys each year. Center faculty also support 10-15 students who enroll in immigration law field placements as part of the law school’s externship program. Many students interested in pursuing a career in immigration law participate in both opportunities, providing a well-rounded, hands-on learning experience, says Sarah Brenes, executive director of the Binger Center.
For the field placements, students work with lawyers at a range of firms, from solo practitioners to large firms with 10 or more attorneys. Students can also work at one of the Binger Center’s nonprofit partners: The Advocates for Human Rights, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.
“We want students to be thoughtful and to think about it as an educational experience,” Brenes says. “They’re not just going to clerk. We work with them to identify specific learning goals and meet with students regularly throughout the semester. Students reflect on how their experiences shape their vision of what kind of lawyer they want to be.”
What distinguishes the field placements from the law clinics, where students usually work in depth on a single case, is the variety of experiences they have over a semester. They typically work with multiple clients, learning about various aspects of immigration law, as well as the business side of running a law firm.
At Karam Law, Keiser spent a lot of time preparing clients for their final asylum hearings in front of immigration judges. In one memorable case, she helped a client who had experienced domestic violence in her home country and came to the United States traumatized, separated from her children, and seeking asylum. These cases are typically challenging to win, but with Keiser’s help, the team secured a victory.
Alexis Dutt ’18, a senior attorney at Karam Law who supervises current Minnesota Law students in their field placements, says the students aren’t just there to learn, but also to contribute in a meaningful way.
“Immigration law is very complicated, so working with law students helps me talk through issues,” Dutt says. “There are also certain ideas and strategies that have come directly from our law students. They bring creativity and unique research strategies. There are cases that we have won where I know that without the support of our law students and the creative thinking they have brought to the cases, it could’ve been a very different story.”
With faculty and field supervisors at their disposal, students can home in on specific aspects of immigration law that interest them during their field placements. Like Keiser, Perry Keziah ’25 graduated this spring with four semesters of immigration field placements. She spent two semesters with The Advocates for Human Rights and two with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.
During her time in law school, Keziah became interested in removal defense and representing clients in immigration detention. Through her field placements, she has visited county jails that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct intake interviews with detainees. This kind of work is emotionally draining, and she had to learn how to deliver difficult news to clients, including the fact that the organization doesn’t have the capacity to represent them.
But these experiences have also stoked Keziah’s passion. In the fall, she’ll return to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid as an Immigrant Justice Fellow. She’ll be doing legal work to support at-risk youth, including unaccompanied minors, helping them apply for special immigrant juvenile status and working on other types of applications for immigration relief. She’ll also work on removal defense and detention.
Keziah says it’s “nerve-racking” to be starting her career this year when the country is facing a severe crackdown on immigration, but it has also reinforced her desire to work in the field.
“I feel motivated and encouraged by knowing that so many immigration attorneys in the Twin Cities are continuing in the face of all these new changes,” Keziah says. “I’m excited to join the immigration legal community in Minneapolis and just be a good part of my community.”