HOW TO APPLY

Cabrini Statue at St. George's Cathedral
Mother Cabrini Statue at St. George's Cathedral, London

Eligibility

The Mother Cabrini Mercy Prize is mainly intended for idealistic law students and young lawyers. But the prize is open to any person who is inspired by Mother Cabrini, without regard to religion or work.

Papers submitted in application for the prize should be based on one or more of the following topics:

  1. The Scriptural Foundations of an Open Immigration Policy, Immigration Lawyers on the Web (ILW.COM) (1997).
  2. The Refugee Act and the Rule of Law: A Legislative Proposal, 4 Bender’s Immigration Bulletin 983 (Oct. 15, 1999).
  3. We Represent People, Not Files!–Reflections on the Valinoti Case, 8 Bender’s Immigration Bulletin 859 (May 15, 2003).
  4. The Hake Hardship Scale: A Quantitative System for Assessment of Hardship in Immigration Cases Based on a Statistical Analysis of AAO Decisions, with David L. Banks, Professor of Statistics, Duke University, 10 Bender’s Immigration Bulletin 403 (March 1, 2005).
  5. Dual Representation in Immigration Practice, in American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ethics in a Brave New World: Professional Responsibility, Personal Accountability, and Risk Management for Immigration Practitioners 28 (John L. Pinnix, ed.) (AILA 2004). This book was distributed at no charge to all of AILA’s at-that-time more than 8,000 members.
  6. Advance Conflict Waivers are Unethical in Immigration Practice—Debunking Mehta’s “Golden Mean,” 12 Bender’s Immigration Bulletin (June 1, 2007).
  7. Any other topic inspired by Mother Cabrini.

 

See discussions of these topics in the Blog section.

  1. You can apply by submitting a paper of 10-30 pages, double-spaced, in English.
  2. Submit in PDF form to: [email protected].
  3. Citations in text, footnotes, and endnotes preferably should follow the Harvard Bluebook, but this is not required.
  4. Questions may be directed to [email protected].
  1. Submissions must be received between May 1st and August 31st of each year, starting in 2025.
  2. Prizes will be announced on November 13th of each year, starting in 2025. That is the Feast Day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.
  3. There will always be one $5,000 First Prize. In the sole discretion of the Prize Fund, in any year there may be additional prizes of equal or lesser amounts, and some papers may be designated for Honorable Mention without monetary award.
  4. Papers awarded prizes or honorary mention will be published on the winners page of this website.
  1. Applicants for the Prize agree to be bound by the rules on this page.
  2. Winning applicants whose papers are published on this website will hold copyright on their papers but will grant permanent reprint permission to the Mother Cabrini Prize Fund and this website.
  3. This website is not affiliated with the Cabrini Mission Foundation. However, we encourage donations to them.We also encourage donations to the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago, Illinois (this link goes to a prayer for immigrants by Pope Francis).

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