{"id":2614,"date":"2023-02-22T09:55:58","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T09:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T22:38:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T22:38:48","slug":"layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2023\/02\/IpJZ1LeDNXw-SD-640x432.jpg\"\n                    data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"a lady with an orange blouse\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n    \n          <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span>Kim Lawton<\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">February 22, 2023<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div 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0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>As a lawyer and a member of the Baha\u2019i faith, Layli Miller-Muro believes the pursuit of justice is a divine calling. When she was in law school in 1996, Miller-Muro successfully helped represent a young woman from Togo who was seeking asylum in the United States to avoid female genital mutilation and a forced polygamous marriage. The case ultimately changed US law to include gender-based persecution in the grounds for asylum.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IpJZ1LeDNXw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:embed --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Miller-Muro went on to create the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tahirih.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tahirih Justice Center<\/a>, which provides free legal defense for women fleeing human rights abuses. With five locations across the US, the Tahirih Justice Center has helped more than 27,000 women since 2001.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Miller-Muro says her work is based on two key Baha\u2019i principles: justice and the equality of women and men. She believes her purpose in life is to serve others, because, she says, \u201cwhen there is suffering somewhere, there is, in fact, suffering everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Since this video was filmed, Miller-Muro stepped down as CEO of the Tahirih Juctice Center and continues to consult with other organizations and individuals seeking to address social issues in their work.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>This video was produced by Kim Lawton as part of \u201cSpiritual Exemplars: A Global Project on Engaged Spirituality\u201d at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, with support from the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the supporting organizations.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":4} --><\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"http:\/\/crcc.usc.edu\/topic\/engaged-spirituality\">Read more stories of engaged spirituality<\/a><\/h4>\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a lawyer and a member of the Baha\u2019i faith, Layli Miller-Muro believes the pursuit of justice is a divine calling. When she was in law school in 1996, Miller-Muro successfully helped represent a young woman from Togo who was seeking asylum in the United States to avoid female genital mutilation and a forced polygamous marriage. The case ultimately changed US law to include gender-based persecution in the grounds for asylum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":813,"featured_media":104015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[80,58,39,81],"class_list":["post-2614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","tag-engaged-spirituality","tag-immigration","tag-international-affairs-and-policy","tag-spiritual-exemplars"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants - Center for Religion and Civic Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a lawyer and a member of the Baha\u2019i faith, Layli Miller-Muro believes the pursuit of justice is a divine calling. 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When she was in law school in 1996, Miller-Muro successfully helped represent a young woman from Togo who was seeking asylum in the United States to avoid female genital mutilation and a forced polygamous marriage. The case ultimately changed US law to include gender-based persecution in the grounds for asylum.","og_url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/","og_site_name":"Center for Religion and Civic Culture","article_published_time":"2023-02-22T09:55:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-30T22:38:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2023\/02\/IpJZ1LeDNXw-SD.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"saserran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/"},"author":{"name":"saserran","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/#\/schema\/person\/9d9d75da91a2178efdd84e4b35717cab"},"headline":"Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants","datePublished":"2023-02-22T09:55:58+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-30T22:38:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/"},"wordCount":8,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2023\/02\/IpJZ1LeDNXw-SD.jpg","keywords":["Engaged Spirituality","Immigration","International Affairs and Policy","Spiritual Exemplars"],"articleSection":["Video"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/layli-miller-muro-protecting-the-rights-of-migrants\/","name":"Layli Miller Muro: Protecting the Rights of Migrants - 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