Microsoft sponsors legal aid plan for immigrant children
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
Microsoft said Thursday that it would sponsor a new initiative, along with actress Angelina Jolie, in nine U.S. cities to ensure that immigrant children who arrive in the U.S. on their own and are detained receive legal representation.
The initiative -- known as KIND, or Kids In Need of Defense, -- is inspired by a project the company has supported in Washington state for the past six years, which provides immigrants detained here with attorneys.
Lawyers are required to do some work every year for free, and Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in an interview that because Microsoft has employees from more than 140 countries, immigration "seemed like a logical issue for us to focus on."