The immigration clinic at the University of St. Thomas School of Law prepared this week to sign on to any potential litigation involving the case of a 4-year-old girl from Somalia who was impacted by President Trump's recent travel ban. Faculty and students from the School of Law's immigration and religious liberty clinics, including professors Virgil Wiebe and Tom Berg, students Ted Shillingstad and Jessica Lanzi, and alumnus James Todd '14, were conducting background research into constitutional questions related to the case when Mushkaad Abdi was cleared for travel.
From Minnesota Public Radio:
Mushkaad, now 4 years old, was born in a refugee camp in Uganda and didn't get a visa to come to the U.S. along with her mother and two sisters.
She finally got the OK to come to the U.S. to join her family last summer. She was expected to arrive Tuesday.
But because Mushkaad is both Somali and a refugee, President Trump's executive order temporarily banning refugees initially prevented her from coming to the U.S.
The 4-year-old was stopped at the airport in Uganda, according to a court document.
In a statement, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken said they pressed Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to make an exception.
It was granted, and Dahir was reunited with her mother and sisters in Minneapolis on Thursday.
The St. Thomas Law clinic teamed up with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota Law School’s Center for New Americans, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, pro bono lawyers at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, Advocates for Human Rights, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota offices on two continents, and Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken in this effort.
