Matthew Webster, 2023 Associate Volunteer of the Year

When Matthew Webster began in Fredrikson’s Immigration Group in 2018, it quickly became evident that providing pro bono legal services to those in need was more than a professional obligation, it was also personally important to him. Matthew has taken many asylum and immigration cases since he joined the firm. He also attends clinics and provides guidance to nonprofits. This past year alone, Matthew assisted on 14 separate matters. And for many lawyers outside of the Immigration Group who take pro bono immigration or asylum cases, Matthew has been an invaluable resource who is always available to answer questions or to assist as co-counsel on complex cases. Matthew works hard to bring others along, including many paralegals and those new to this practice area, to assist on cases. In addition to Matthew’s pro bono work, he and his family also sponsored a family from the Ukraine through Alight, a local refugee settlement agency. Fredrikson is proud to honor Matthew Webster for his deep commitment to share his talent and time with so many.

Loan Huynh, Fredrikson’s Immigration Group Chair, said,

Our entire group is proud of Matthew Webster’s commitment and dedication to serving refugees and immigrants in our communities. He is an inspiration to many within the firm and throughout the immigration bar. We are proud to join the firm in recognizing Matthew.

Matthew Webster is committed to volunteering his time and talent to help those in need and helps mentor lawyers in departments outside of his area of law. A few of these success stories are here:

Matthew and paralegal Kiersten McMahon had the chance to shake the hand of one of Minnesota’s newest asylees this past year after Matthew took a case from The Advocates for Human Rights in 2014. The client and her family had experienced severe past persecution in her home country due to their political opposition to the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), and Zimbabwe’s President for 40 years, Robert Mugabe. Her case became unexpectedly complicated, however, when it was discovered, at her asylum interview in 2017, that a friend had inadvertently used the client’s passport while she was hospitalized following a government attack in 2013. The case was then transferred to the Fort Snelling Immigration Court for a full individual merits hearing. After years of master calendar hearings and interminable delays, the client finally had three individual merits hearings at the Fort Snelling Immigration Court. The testimony included that of her daughter, who had just graduated with honors from St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, and the friend who had used the client’s passport and now wanted to right this wrong. The friend appeared telephonically from Zimbabwe when it was very late at night due to time zone differences, sleeping in her office in order testify for her friend. At the end of the hearing, the judge granted asylum from the bench, bringing years of uncertainty and fear to an end, and marking this grateful client’s first day of asylum in the United States.

Matthew Webster and paralegal Claire Ziller successfully represented a man from Burundi who was a student at St. Cloud State University in 2015 when he participated in a public protest in the United States against the Burundian President’s unconstitutional campaign for a third term. Within a week, the client was charged in Burundi with the crime of participation in an insurrectionary movement, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. His two brothers also participated in protests and similarly received arrest warrants for their political opposition. His family warned him that he would be tortured or killed if he returned to Burundi. The client’s parents were also arrested and detained on politically motivated charges and questioned as to the client’s whereabouts. An additional family member was assassinated for what was believed to be political purposes. The client feared persecution by the Burundian government based upon his political opinion and Tutsi ethnicity, a targeted minority within the country. The client initially filed an affirmative asylum application in 2016, and the case was then referred from the Asylum Office to Immigration Court. Matthew and Claire received the case in 2020 and worked to request an expedited hearing (since the case had been languishing since 2016) and to prepare pre-hearing briefs and testimony. After testimony at two individual merits hearings, the Immigration Judge granted the client asylum, and the government waived appeal. The client’s eight years of limbo are finally over.

Upon receiving asylum, the client said,

I want to start by thanking you again and show my appreciation for all your help provided on my asylum case. [I]t has been truly a journey, and you continued to work with me in wonderful professionalism.

Sandy Smalley-Fleming led a team including Matthew Webster, summer associate Margaret Severson, paralegals Marvic Salminen-Morillo and Lauren Breckenridge, and legal administrative assistant Beth Prisby to assist a young person (CP) from Guatemala who was forced to flee her country when she was only 16 years old. Her father was murdered when she was a young child, and her family continued to be threatened by local smugglers. CP entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor to live with her brother. After her arrival in Minnesota, Sandy represented CP and her brother in Family Court so he could be granted custody of CP. Sandy then represented CP in immigration court and filed a petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and an application for asylum as an unaccompanied minor with U.S. Custom and Immigration Service (USCIS). Sandy overcame a challenge to the SIJS petition when USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny because the custody order was issued after CP’s 18th birthday. Sandy successfully outlined the court’s jurisdiction to have entered a third-party custody order based on existing Minnesota law. Margaret assisted Sandy with the response to the Notice of Intent to Deny. CP’s SIJS petition was approved, and she was granted deferred action until she becomes eligible to apply for permanent residence. Matthew and Lauren then assisted CP in filing for lawful employment authorization, which was approved. Because of this team’s advocacy, CP can remain safe in the United States, has a path to permanent residency and has lawful permission to work in the United States, which will allow her to support herself and her United States citizen toddler. Marvic, Beth, and former legal administrative assistant Brenda Haberman provided critical support in earning CP’s trust, maintaining ongoing communication with her and in preparing the family court motion papers and immigration documents.

Sandy shared,

CP is one of the most courageous people I have ever met. Our Fredrikson team has been honored to assist in her brave journey to change the course of her life.