Witness
2019
2021
2020
2022
#StillHere
2021
2023
2018
2022
Every name here is someone who survived. This is how we make sure that matters.
A verdict that should not have happened.
In Courtroom 4 of the Milimani Law Courts, a deportation order was signed for a family of five who had filed every document, attended every hearing, and done everything right. The attorney on their case — working pro bono, sleeping on a cot in the office — called us at 2am. We had forty-eight hours. We didn't have the funds to file an emergency stay. We lost. That failure is the reason Witness exists.
Read the founding brief"We didn't lose because the law failed them. We lost because no one had built the infrastructure to move money fast enough."
The first community that believed before we had proof.
A network of Congolese diaspora physicians in Minneapolis had been wiring money home for years — to cousins, to churches, to anyone they could reach. They came to us because they needed a way to fund specific legal cases, not general relief. We had no track record. We had a spreadsheet and a promise. They wired $14,000 in the first week. Forty-two cases were filed. Thirty-seven succeeded.
See the 2018 case archive
Amara Diallo. Case #0047. Granted asylum.
Amara had been in the system for four years. Three attorneys had cycled through her case. When we connected her with Miriam Osei — a pro bono attorney in our network — the filing took six weeks. The hearing took one day. The verdict took twelve minutes. She called us from outside the building, and we could hear Geneva traffic in the background, and she didn't say anything for a long time. Neither did we.
Read Amara's testimony"Twelve minutes. After four years. That is what the right attorney, properly funded, can do."
The Nkemdirim family arrived on a Tuesday.
Chukwuemeka, Ngozi, and their three children landed at MSP on February 14th. The resettlement fund — contributed by 847 individual donors across eleven countries — had covered legal fees, medical clearances, and the first three months of housing. Their eldest daughter, Adaeze, started school the following Monday. She is studying biology. She wants to be a doctor. This is the origin story. It is not finished.
Read the resettlement report
The origin story isn't finished. Here's how far it's reached.
Cases Funded
across 34 countries since 2017
Disbursed
to legal defense and resettlement funds
Pro Bono Attorneys
connected through our network
Case Success Rate
when fully funded before filing deadline
Take Your Seat
Every year, survivors, attorneys, diaspora community members, and witnesses gather to mark what has been done and commit to what remains. This is not a conference. It is a reckoning. And there is a seat here with your name on it.
"By the time the form appears, saying yes feels like joining a conversation already in progress — not responding to a pitch."
Fund a case directly. Every dollar is traced.
These are real cases with real deadlines. When a case is fully funded, we notify every contributor with the outcome.
Emergency stay filing — family of four, 48-hour window.
A deportation order was issued on February 18th. Attorney Valentina Ríos has filed for an emergency stay. The filing fee and documentation costs need to be covered by Friday.
Surgical clearance required before asylum hearing.
Maryam Hassan's asylum hearing is scheduled for March 12th. Medical documentation of her injuries is required as evidence. The surgical evaluation costs $2,100.
First three months of housing for a family of six.
The Htun family's resettlement was approved on January 30th. They arrive in Portland on March 5th. Housing deposit and first month costs are the final barrier.