Thirteen law schools housed at Jesuit universities will collaborate to help unaccompanied children and immigrant families from Central America seek refuge in the United States.

The consortium will coordinate with the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA—a Roman Catholic nonprofit—to develop a policy paper outlining the legal procedures available to those immigrants and the need for improvements.

The benefit of involving so many law schools is that they take different approaches, said Giulia McPherson, assistant director for policy at Jesuit Refugee Service. Some have conducted research and take a policy perspective, or offer training, she said. Others provide direct representation through clinics or faculty initiatives, or house organizations that represent immigrants.