MuBANY October 2021 Newsletter

Past Events:

• MuBANY is proud to have led an amicus brief on behalf of religious organizations in FBI, et al. v. Fazaga, et al. The plaintiffs in this case, represented by the ACLU, are a group of Muslim Americans from Orange County, California who were surveilled and targeted by the FBI based on their religion. As set out in the amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, religious minorities of different faiths have long been vulnerable to discriminatory and abusive governmental surveillance, in clear violation of their First Amendment rights. MuBANY also expresses a special thanks to Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP for spearheading this amicus brief. This case will be argued at SCOTUS on November 8, 2021. To read the brief please click the photo above.

• MuBANY is proud to have signed on to an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs, et al. v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, et al. Alongside 50 other organizations representing countless people of faith, the brief is submitted in opposition to Mississippi's abortion ban and argues for reproductive & religious freedom. This case will be argued at SCOTUS on December 1, 2021. To read the full brief please click the photo above.
• Launch of MuBANY's inaugural mentorship program! We celebrate a successful launch, and thank all who applied to be both mentors and mentees. In this pilot program we have 60 participants. MuBANY held a virtual kick-off on October 18. We hope to also have an in-person event in November for all participants.  Please email info@mubany.org if you have any questions!  
• MuBANY welcomes Shaheed Ansari to our community! Shaheed is MuBANY's ISF-Scholar for this term. To learn more about Shaheed's background, please see his bio here.

Upcoming Events:

• On this episode of How Did I Get Here?, Judge Zia Faruqui joins us to discuss his journey from law firm to federal prosecutor to U.S. Magistrate Judge. He talks about his motto "always be networking" and the significant role mentors have played during his career. Judge Faruqui also speaks about how important it is to get out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or here!

Job Opportunities:

• Staff Attorney or Senior Staff Attorney - Muslim Advocates: Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy and educational organization, seeks applications from highly talented and motivated attorneys wishing to join their dynamic and growing legal team as a staff attorney or senior staff attorney. This position is remote.
• Make the Road New York - Legal Internship Summer 2022: Make the Road New York (MRNY) is a grassroots organization that builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services, which includes legal services.
• Trinity Church Wall Street - Associate Counsel: The Associate Counsel is responsible for the review, drafting and negotiation of all forms of contracts and agreements on behalf of Trinity Church Wall Street and its subsidiaries and affiliates. The Associate Counsel will provide advice and counsel to operating unit client groups including information technologies, real property asset management, facilities, and human resources, and may handle overflow for event management and other client groups as needed. 

Pro Bono Opportunity

International Legal Foundation is an NGO that hires, trains, and deploys local legal aid lawyers in post-conflict areas like Afghanistan, Myanmar, Palestine, Nepal, and Tunisia. The ILF office in Afghanistan has been operating for 20 years with an entirely Afghan staff, employing more than 100 legal aid lawyers. We are urgently working to evacuate those of our staff who wish to leave. The ILF has been able to evacuate 12 of their staff members (with their families) to Pakistan. While we are grateful for their physical safety, they are in a precarious situation—they have been granted 60-day visas that the government shows no indication of extending. We believe their best chance of receiving permission to enter the United States before that deadline is humanitarian parole (HP).

Our colleagues need your help with one or both of two critical components of the HP application process. 

• Application assistance: We are seeking pro bono counsel to file applications. The applications are fairly straightforward and hopefully great experiences for associates at firms. In addition, we can provide training webinars and also the ability to consult with refugee law experts. 
• Filing fees: Each person must submit an application and each application costs $575. While fee waivers are technically possible immigration experts discourage this because it extends the approval timeline. Even if you cannot assist with applications, we have some applications already prepared and just waiting on filing fees. Donate here

If you are interested in getting involved and learning more about how you can help please contact Naila Siddiqui naila.siddiqui@gmail.com (ILF Fellow, Tunisia, '19) or Ben Polk bpolk@theilf.org (Global Policy Director, ILF).