Asylum 101: Training for Pro-Bono Attorneys
Monday, October 26, 2026
8:30AM - 3:00PM
The University Club at M&T Bank Arena
Quinnipiac University York Hill Campus
305 Sherman Ave
Hamden, CT 06518
FREE to attend!
*CT and NY CLE Available
Session 1: Asylum Law Basics
This session will give participants an overview of the statutory and regulatory framework of asylum, with a focus on persecution, protected grounds, nexus, and the one-year filing deadline. It will also cover how to research asylum case law, emphasizing the importance of looking beyond the BIA to the relevant legal standards under the Second Circuit.
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Clinical Professor of Law and Richard D. Tulisano '69 Scholar in Human Rights
University of Connecticut School of Law -
William R. Davis Clinical Teaching Fellow in the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic
University of Connecticut School of LawMaegan Faitsch
Maegan Faitsch is the William R. Davis Clinical Teaching Fellow in the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic at UConn Law. She has represented immigrants and refugees in Connecticut for six years, first as a staff attorney with Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) and then with Connecticut Legal Services. For the past two years, Faitsch has also taught as an adjunct instructor in UConn Law’s Legal Practice program, working with students on interviewing, counseling, negotiation, and advocacy. Before entering practice, she served as a law clerk to then-Chief Justice Richard Robinson of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Session 2: Preparing the Asylum Application
This session will train participants in best practices on trauma-informed client interviewing and working with interpreters to elicit the most important details for the I-589. It will also go through the I-589 itself and review best practices for answering the questions, with an emphasis on the questions relating to eligibility for relief and the one-year filing deadline.
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Margaret A. Rodriguez
Margaret Roriguez is an immigration attorney based out of JFS Norwich, CT office. Born and raised in Southeastern CT, she could not be more excited to serve its immigrant community. Margaret earned her B.A. in English from Fordham University in 2019. She then attended law school at Boston University, where she was a student attorney with the Immigrant Rights and Human Trafficking Program. She earned her J.D. and was admitted to the CT Bar in 2022. After law school, she was awarded the CT Bar Foundation's Singer Fellowship for a project focused on addressing the low rates of representation in Immigration Courts; she worked for IRIS as a Singer Fellow for two years, providing pro bono removal defense services to immigrants facing removal proceedings.
Session 3: Filing the Asylum Application in Immigration Court and Next Steps in Preparing a Defensive Asylum Case
This session will provide the nuts and bolts of how to obtain an EOIR ID number; how to use a limited appearance form in EOIR; and how to properly assist a pro se respondent in filing an asylum application. It will also explain how the asylum application lays the foundation for the rest of the case, with a preview of what a final asylum filing packet should look like and the work this is required to effectively litigate a defense asylum case. This session will help lay the groundwork for participants to return for the follow-up training in early 2027.
Thank you to our program co-chairs!
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Ashleigh Backman
Ashleigh Backman (she/her) is the Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, where she translates strategic vision into operational impact to advance civil justice and equity statewide. A former civil legal aid attorney, with more than a decade of experience designing and leading high-impact pro bono programs and strategic partnerships, she has built collaborations with law firms, corporate legal departments, and access-to-justice organizations that have earned state and national recognition.
Ashleigh has been recognized as Connecticut’s Top 40 Under 40, Connecticut Law Tribune Unsung Hero, United Way Impactful Woman nominee, and is a James W. Cooper Fellow. She’s an active member of the Connecticut Bar Association and Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association (CAPABA) – where she serves as an Officer, Vice President of Operations. A believer in the power of pro bono, outside of the office, she volunteers her time representing asylum seekers with the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI).
