In today's Pioneer Press Ruben Rosario pays tribute in his column to the significance of the Minnesota Protocol, drafted in consultation with The Advocates for Human Rights at the organization's inception, in the investigation of genocide crimes against humanity committed by Guatemalan military dictator Efrain Rios Montt in the Mayan Ixil region in the 1980s.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits' (MCN) public policy director, Susie Brown, praises the work of The Advocates in the spring issue of MCN's Nonprofit News. Brown heralds the work of The Advocates' in driving policy changes on immigration reform along with key partners such as the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. Learn more about getting a copy of the publication here. 

Ely, Minnesota, a nature-rugged, nature-loving community most often associated with the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, took on a much different distinction in early April. It was then that the small city in Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region was linked with the St. Paul-based sex trafficking ring that was the focus of criminal charges lodged by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, serving as yet another example that no community is immune from sex trafficking’s evils.

A recent decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the residential status of an undocumented immigrant mother does not affect her fitness as a parent. The decision, which granted the woman custody of her 4-year old daughter, is a victory for the rights of immigrants.

Chanida Phaengdara Potter is today’s Laura Ingalls Wilder. But instead of taking pen to paper to write a book about life in a log cabin, Potter, a modern-day pioneer, taps a keyboard to blog about life as a Lao American in Minnesota.

The Minnesota legislature is currently considering an updated Safe Harbor bill (Senate file 384) to build on measures adopted in 2011 improving protection for sexually exploited youth in the state. An article in MinnPost outlines the arguments in favor of the bill and references The Advocates' work on the bill, including its February 2013 report, "Safe Harbor: Fulfilling Minnesota’s Promise to Protect Sexually Exploited Youth."

In January, the United States recognized the government in Somalia for the first time in more than 20 years. Since then, the U.S. has resumed a small number of deportations to Somalia. An article published by Minnesota Public Radio covers the change in U.S. policy and quotes The Advocates for Human Rights' Michele Garnett McKenzie.

On March 5, the Star Tribune published an op-ed by Virgil Wiebe, a professor of law at the University of St. Thomas, about the recent release of immigrants held in detention centers as a result of "sequestration" budget cuts. In the article, Wiebe cites a partnership between his students and The Advocates for Human Rights to provide free legal representation to immigrant detainees.

MinnPost, Star Tribune, and the Associated Press covered the story of a Honduran woman, represented by The Advocates' Sarah Brenes, who was released from immigration detention as a result of sequestration’s federal budget cuts. Referred to here as Dolores, prior to her sudden and unexpected February 26 release she had been detained for 28 months -- 22 in Sherburne County jail and 6 in federal criminal custody.