Danny Upton

C. Daniel Upton is originally from Madison County in Alabama. He attended Birmingham-Southern University as a pre-ministerial student, graduated with honors in international studies with an emphasis on political science and Spanish. Once he graduated, instead of continuing in the seminary, he enrolled in the law school of the University of Alabama with a full scholarship, thinking of the laws as a great calling and another way to provide a service. Once he graduated from law school, Danny was commissioned as a missionary lawyer for the United Methodist Church. His first assignment was in the Justice for our neighbors (JFON) ministry of the United Methodist Church conference in northern Alabama, providing free legal representation to particularly vulnerable immigrants: women and children victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation; refugees and asylum seekers persecuted in their countries because of their race, religion or political opinion; and low-income families that were divided by international borders. Then, he was sent to the JFON ministry of the Western Michigan conference. Danny returned to Alabama to help raise the children of his older sister who died of cancer in 2010. In 2011, he became a named plaintiff in the landmark case that successfully challenged Alabama’s anti-immigration law, HB 56. He continued to work with the Ministry of Justice for our neighbors (JFON) until 2013, during which time he worked presenting new projects for the ministry in California, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.