Our People

Safe Passage is an organization with an entrepreneurial culture and a deep appreciation for diverse backgrounds.

With the support of our pro bono attorneys, we are able to provide free lawyers to hundreds of immigrant children who would otherwise face the immigration process alone. Our pro bono attorneys come from the following law firms, organizations, and corporations.

Our Founder

Lenni Benson

Director & Founder & Senior Advisor,
Policy and Research

Professor Lenni Benson is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of immigration law and political asylum. Before joining the New York Law School faculty in the early 1990s, Professor Benson represented numerous corporations and individuals as partner at the international firm, Bryan Cave, LLP.
Lenni Benson

Director & Founder & Senior Advisor,
Policy and Research

Professor Benson has won widespread recognition and numerous awards; in 1999, the American Immigration Lawyers Association named her Outstanding Professor in Immigration Law based on her contributions to the professional and scholarly development of the field and her role as a mentor of students and young attorneys. She was honored in 2008, along with other members of the Safe Passage Project, and received the State Bar President’s Award for Pro Bono Law School Project. She recently co-authored the first interactive immigration law textbook, and has authored numerous oft-cited articles, as well as many training videos and other visual materials.

From 2011-2012 Professor Benson was a consultant to the Administrative Conference of the United States, and prepared an extensive analysis of and recommendations for improvements to the system of immigration removal and adjudication. She is an active participant in immigrant rights projects coordinated by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), serves on the board of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Foundation, and is a trustee emeritus for the American Immigration Law Foundation. She has also served as Chair of the Immigration Committee of the Administrative Law Section of the American Bar Association and as Chair of the Immigration Section of the American Association of Law Schools.