Arnold & Porter Pro Bono Team to Be Honored with American Heritage Award for Advancing Immigrant Rights

WASHINGTON—The American Immigration Council will honor the law firm Arnold & Porter with its American Heritage Award— which recognizes the talents, contributions, and accomplishments of immigrants and their advocates—on June 17 at the Javits Center in New York.

The award will be presented during an interactive arts celebration that highlights notable immigrants, national heroes, and unsung heroes like immigration lawyers.

“Arnold & Porter’s pro bono practice and its team of lawyers have been an exceptional partner advancing impactful litigation to advance immigrant rights. They have invested their legal resources and litigation expertise to advance justice for immigrants, including seeking compensation from the U.S. government for the trauma of separating families at the border,” said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council. “Arnold & Porter’s commitment to immigrant rights is apparent in their team of attorneys and firm culture, and we are grateful for their work.

Arnold & Porter’s pro bono program is respected and recognized by the legal profession and the communities the firm serves. The law firm’s pro bono work includes litigation, transactional, regulatory and public policy advocacy, on both systemic and individual levels. From arguing for a right to counsel in Gideon v. Wainwright, to advocating for equal access to justice—pro bono is a core value and defining characteristics of Arnold & Porter’s legal practice.  

“Arnold & Porter is honored to receive the prestigious American Heritage Award from the American Immigration Council for our work representing families separated at the United States border by the United States government in 2018.  We are proud to work alongside the American Immigration Council to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society have meaningful representation and equal access to justice” said Lucy McMillan, Chief Pro Bono Counsel at Arnold & Porter.

In addition to Arnold & Porter’s work representing separated families, the firm has provided pro bono legal services to help vulnerable immigrants obtain legal immigration status; immigrant women whose immigration status is dependent on an abusive spouse; and helping many abused, abandoned, or neglected young children to obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in the United States. The firm’s team of lawyers have also provided significant impact, policy, and regulatory work on issues relating to immigration and the immigration court system.

In years past, the American Immigration Council has recognized the achievements of other outstanding immigrants and their advocates, including Carlos Santana, General Colin Powell, Sonia Nazario, Edwidge Danticat, Gerda Weissmann Klein, and others.

The American Heritage Award ceremony will also feature art exhibits from the 2022 New American Fellows Program which supports immigrant artists who explore how all humans are connected on a fundamental level. Each fellow has interpreted the American Immigration Council’s research using their unique perspective with the goal of sparking crucial dialogue.

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For more information, contact:

Maria Frausto at the American Immigration Council at [email protected] or 202-507-7526.