Photo: Ms. Sahar with the signage of the Legal Clinic at Fort McCoy
In the summer of 2022, Sahar co-created and co-led 12 immigration workshops for resettlement agencies. The workshops guided Afghan clients paroled into the United States in completing their asylum applications. Over 450 families and almost 2,500 people successfully completed their asylum applications through the workshops.
Sahar has also co-led virtual and hybrid immigration workshops on various immigration applications and processes.
Today, Sahar leads her individual practice immigration law firm with expertise in Afghan Immigration processes. She brings a cultural awareness in addressing clients' individual situations and needs. Sahar has an in-depth cultural fluency regarding Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Sahar Taman Law has successfully supported hundreds of clients through immigration services with a careful degree of professionalism, understanding, and compassion.
Photo: Ms. Sahar with the the team of volunteer legal students and staff at Fort McCoy
Sahar Taman specializes in Immigration Law with an expertise in Afghan Immigration
Sahar Taman managed an emergency Legal Clinic at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin serving over 13,000 Afghan Immigrants who were safely evacuated from Afghanistan by the U.S. military in the Fall of 2021 as part of Operation Allies Refuge.
Sahar managed the legal team at Ft. McCoy from Fall 2021 through its completion in Spring of 2022 while the military base and legal clinic served as a safe haven for thousands of Afghan Immigrants as they were processed and resettled throughout the United States successfully with parole status.
Sahar and her team at the Legal Clinic at Fort McCoy provided immigration services on Asylum, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), Humanitarian Parole, and Family-Based Petitions.
In total, over 10,000 services to the Afghan community were provided including: 3100 legal consultations, 147 presentations, 22 immigration workshops, and hundreds of private consultations. In addition, the Legal Clinic assisted with many mutual aid distributions through community organized donation efforts.
Sahar on the Experience at Fort McCoy
“I am an immigrant myself. I came as a child with my family from Egypt in the early 1970s to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. My father was among the first psychiatrists in the area.
My immigrant experience helped me relate to the Afghan guests at Fort McCoy. It felt like they were extended family. I had recently moved back to Wisconsin when I learned of the evacuation of Afghanistan in July 2021, and that thousands of evacuees would temporarily reside at Fort McCoy.
I realized that, most importantly, they would need legal help. U.S. immigration laws are more complicated than in the past when other groups of refugees arrived. I wanted to be a part of the clinic, and reached out to USCCB, which was responsible for legal clinics on eight military bases. I started out as a volunteer and was lucky to become the legal lead at Fort McCoy.
Currently, I am in private practice based in Virginia, and will continue to serve the Afghan community. The need is enormous and I am honored that my clients have entrusted me with their personal stories of their asylum journey. I hear my clients and I empathize deeply. I believe everyone deserves to feel safe.”
- Sahar Taman, Esquire
(From an Interview with the State Bar of Wisconsin)