ILAP Celebrates Jennifer Bailey’s Selection for the 2021 Thomas P. Downing, Jr. Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 26, 2021
CONTACT: Laura Simocko lsimocko@ilapmaine.org
PORTLAND - This month the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) celebrated the selection of Jennifer Bailey, Esq. as the recipient of the 2021 Thomas P. Downing, Jr. Award from the Maine Justice Foundation. The Award was established in Downing’s memory in 1985 to recognize legal aid staff for their dedication to access to civil justice for vulnerable Mainers.
“In addition to her decades of devoted work on behalf of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers around the world, Jennifer led ILAP’s asylum program through an extremely turbulent period in asylum law,” says Executive Director Sue Roche. “At a time when cases have become more procedurally complicated and the rules are changing on a daily basis, Jennifer has responded with perseverance, compassion, and a clear strategic vision.”
Under Jennifer’s leadership from 2016-2021, ILAP’s Asylum Program grew to include a 175-member Pro Bono Panel of volunteer attorneys representing nearly 200 people each year, robust resources and information for people who are applying for asylum without an attorney, and assistance for asylum seekers who may benefit from the Mendez Rojas settlement agreement.
During this time, Jennifer also travelled to the southern border as a volunteer attorney, presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration, and served as a trusted voice in the community and in the media when Portland welcomed a large group of asylum-seeking families in summer 2019.
Jennifer lives in Cape Elizabeth with her family.
“I’m honored to be selected as this year’s recipient of the Thomas P. Downing, Jr. Award and it’s an honor I share with my remarkable colleagues, our tenacious volunteer attorneys, and the countless others advancing justice for immigrants in Maine,” reflects Jennifer. “Many new Mainers experienced unimaginable suffering in their home countries and on the perilous journey by land to United States. This award is an acknowledgment of the justice work still to done to create a fair and just immigration system and to ensure our country’s obligation to protect refugees is upheld.”
Jennifer has a wealth of expertise in asylum law and policy, particularly in the Americas. Before joining ILAP in 2007, she worked as Senior Policy Associate for Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, investigated human rights violations in Colombia and the U.S. with Human Rights Watch, interned with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Costa Rica, and was a paralegal on political asylum cases for Central American detainees with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR). She has also worked with the University of Maine School of Law’s Refugee and Human Rights Clinic.
Alongside Jennifer, Charles F. Dingman of Kozak & Gayer and Sara A. Murphy of Pierce Atwood were recognized by the Maine Justice Foundation as being champions of civil legal aid in Maine.
About the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP): ILAP is Maine’s only state-wide immigration legal services organization. It assists 3,000 Mainers each year as they navigate the increasingly unjust U.S. immigration system to find safety from violence and persecution, keep their families together, and advance towards economic security. To learn more, please visit www.ilapmaine.org.
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