U of M Law School receives $25 million for center focused on immigration

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The University of Minnesota Law School received a $25 million gift for the James H. Binger Center for New Americans, which provides legal services to immigrants.

The grant was awarded by the Robina Foundation. It is the single largest philanthropic gift in U of M Law School’s history, according to a U of M news release.

Of the $25 million gift, $23.5 million will go towards supporting the center, $1 million will go towards establishing and funding the James H. Binger Professorship in Clinical Law and $500,000 will support scholarships for law students, the release said.

The Center for New Americans was established in 2013 with the help of another generous gift from the Robina Foundation. The purpose of the center is to provide and improve legal services for some of the nearly 400,000 immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers living in Minnesota.

In the past four years, the center has worked to improve federal immigration law and policy, protect detainee rights, improve access to legal representation for refugees and immigrants and educate noncitizens about their legal rights, according to the U of M Law School website.