Megan Marcouiller, Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office

Immigration and employment lawyers have had their hands full since the beginning of the year, to put it mildly. So have municipalities and other public entities wrestling with the first- and second-order effects of the federal government’s rapidly changing immigration policies and priorities.

The City of St. Paul is no exception. Legal support staff like Megan Marcoullier, a paralegal in the city attorney’s office’s civil division, have been crucial to its response — not only on immigration issues, where Marcouiller has extensive prior experience, but on the full spectrum of the city’s relations with Washington.

Marcouiller is the only paralegal on the city’s new federal response team, which advises the rest of the enterprise on how policy changes enacted in D.C. may impact the federal contracts and grants the city depends on. She’s an invaluable contributor to this “creative” and fast-moving process, colleagues say.

That’s largely down to Marcouiller’s diligence, inquisitiveness and eagerness to stay one step ahead of an ever-evolving area of the law. Her strengths came through in her work developing the city’s immigrant and refugee program, which required extensive website updates to ensure it accurately reflected available immigration resources while providing immigrants and their advocates with up-to-date information on legal rights, health care and food access, potential scams and the U.S. citizenship process.

Marcouiller’s facility with immigration law helps with basic city enterprise processes as well, including new employee onboarding. Colleagues say she took it upon herself to learn “the law, federal regulations and best practices for I-9 and e-verification processing,” both critical tools for verifying immigration status and work authorization. She now trains other city employees on them.

Indeed, Marcouiller’s influence is felt throughout St. Paul city government, well beyond the four walls of the city attorney’s office. She frequently develops immigration resources for the city council and other city stakeholders.

In short, Marcouiller is invaluable.

“Megan is a devoted, trusted member of the Civil Team whose hard work and wisdom is deeply respected and cherished by other members,” said Odell Brown, operations and administrative support manager for the city of St. Paul.