ISBA member and professor at Southern Illinois University Law School Cindy Buys recently took nine students from her asylum and refugee law class to visit the International Institute in St. Louis to help them get a better understanding of how the refugee resettlement process works in the United States.

The institute, which was founded in 1919 and provides services ranging from health services and English-language classes to job preparation assistance and employment information, helps both immigrants and refugees settle into their new lives in the U.S. In the past year, over 8,000 individuals have received assistance from the institute.

Professor Buys, who also manages pro bono asylum cases, recognized that there is a gap between what students learn about these subjects in the classroom and what’s happening in nearby communities. “My point in taking the students to the refugee resettlement center was really to give them a sense of what’s happening on the ground, right now,” she recently told The Southern Illinoisan. “We can look at statistics online about where they come from, but I think it’s different when you see it in person."

To learn more about the institute and the experiences of Buys' students, read the full article.