The Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN), formerly known as the Atlanta Bar Asylum Project, began in early 2005 as a loose affiliation between the leadership of the Atlanta Bar Association, Catholic Charities, and a handful of associates from several Atlanta law firms.


This loose affiliation collectively recognized that:

1. Unrepresented aliens in Georgia in dire need of, and would benefit tremendously from, pro bono counsel;

2. The introduction of pro bono attorneys in the U.S. Immigration Court system in Atlanta would empower and benefit the court by facilitating the reasonable and efficient adjudication of unrepresented aliens' cases; and

3. A formal organization capable of providing mentorship and guidance in the area of immigration law is necessary to ensure that civil lawyers who venture into the U.S. Immigration Court system are adequately prepared to provide effective and dynamic representation.

Since its beginnings as a grassroots movement in the Atlanta legal community, GAIN has evolved into a registered Georgia corporation with pending non-profit status that coordinates a volunteer network of attorneys to provide legal representation to the state's - indeed, the world's - most vulnerable and voiceless population. 

''Nothing in this world had ever prepared me for the pain, anger, hurt and guilt that so much haunts mothers and women in detention. Not being there to console their young ones when they cry, and the likely possibility of deportation and leaving children behind." -Immigrant mother who was detained upon entering the United States seeking asylum. 

"GAIN has given me the opportunity to have the type of meaningful impact on a client's life that first inspired me to go to law school." -Martha Henley, King & Spalding

"The work I have done through GAIN is among the most personally rewarding work I've done in my career. I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know people I would not otherwise know and to help people who otherwise would not be helped." -Joshua Becker, Alston & Bird.