In the Immigrants' Rights Clinic, students represent individual immigrants and engage in multi¬disciplinary advocacy on behalf of immigrants' rights organizations. Clients include asylum-seekers, immigrant survivors of domestic violence applying to change their status, and non-citizens with old or minor criminal convictions who seek humanitarian relief from deportation. Under the supervision of clinic director Jayashri Srikantiah, up to 12 students each semester assume responsibility for all aspects of case preparation, including interviewing clients and witnesses, investigating facts, writing pleadings, developing case strategies, and conducting legal research.
Students also collaborate with immigrants' rights organizations on impact litigation, public education, grassroots advocacy, and media work. Students have developed “know-your-rights” materials for foreign students affected by post-9/11 restrictions, written a U.S. Supreme Court brief detailing the effect of deportation on immigrant communities, and planned and launched a project enabling a local domestic violence shelter to work with local law firms to provide legal assistance to survivors. The clinic's work is particularly relevant in California’s San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, where about one third of the population is foreign-born.
"My semester in the Immigrants' Rights Clinic was one of my most meaningful experiences in law school. It gave me the opportunity to understand, in concrete terms, how immigration laws affect people's daily lives and demonstrated that the practice of law involves a range of skills beyond those taught in the classroom."
Julie Smolinski ’07
Students enrolled in the IRC act as attorneys representing immigrants' rights organizations on specific advocacy efforts. The listing below highlights a handful of student IRC advocacy projects.
Yulia Garteiser ('05) and Nick Jabbour ('05) developed a "know-your-rights" brochure in collaboration with Bay Area Legal Aid in San Jose which explained the California's Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI). The brochure explains California's Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), a program that provides monthly financial assistance to certain elderly, blind, or disabled non-citizens who are not eligible for other benefits solely due to their immigration status. Before the creation of the brochure, potential immigrant applicants were either unaware of the program or feared there may be consequences for their immigration status. Garteiser and Jabbour developed a know-your-rights brochure about CAPI to increase public awareness of the program and encourage immigrants to apply for benefits to which they are entitled.
In January 2008, the IRC completed a major project for its client, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC). Clinic students Ling Lew ('09), Mindy Jeng ('09), Laura Hurtado ('09) and Eunice Cho ('09) worked with the ILRC developing materials to protect immigrants at risk of apprehension during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on their homes.
Lew and Jeng researched and prepared "know your rights" materials to educate immigrants about their legal rights during a raid. The materials include a "red card" that immigrants can give to ICE agents during a raid in order to preserve their rights, such as the right not sign documents in the absence of a lawyer. Cho and Hurtado researched and drafted a model Motion to Suppress Evidence, which ILRC intends to use to train pro bono attorneys in the Bay Area who have expressed interest in representing immigrants arrested during immigration raids. The Motion requests that an Immigration Judge suppress evidence that is illegally collected through egregious violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and through violations of agency regulations.
Sonya Sanchez ('06), Susan Park ('06), Gloria Borges ('07), and Aravinda Seshadri ('06) developed and launched a VAWA pro bono project in collaboration with a local domestic violence shelter, NextDoor Solutions. In the spring 2005 semester, Sanchez and Parks conducted a feasibility assessment for NextDoor by reviewing relevant laws, pro bono resources, and other successful pro bono programs. Based on their findings, Seshadri, Borges, and Sanchez developed and led a training session for law firm lawyers on representing immigrant survivors of domestic violence. As a result of their efforts, NextDoor Solutions now works with local law firms to provide pro bono assistance to immigrant clients.
Nicole Janisiewicz ('06) and Adam Anderson ('06) worked with the Bay Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition (BAIRC) to help develop BAIRC's organizing goals as part of its first annual meeting. Janisiewicz and Anderson wrote white papers about various immigration issues that BAIRC identified as possible focus areas and represented the IRC at BAIRC's annual meeting.
Chris Walker ('06) and Shani Moore ('07) worked with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project to help develop a toolkit for legal observers as part of the ACLU's Vigilante Watch project. In the past several years, anti-immigrant vigilante activity has escalated at the United States–Mexico border. Immigrants' rights groups responded by training and sending legal observers to the border; observers' notes then form the basis for further advocacy work. Walker and Moore developed detailed legal memoranda about border law governing the behavior of migrants and vigilantes. In addition, they also visited the border themselves and wrote a compelling editorial piece about their observations.
In January 2008, the IRC, along with co-counsel American Civil Liberties Union, presented arguments in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of two immigrant men held indefinitely in immigration detention pending resolution of their deportation cases. These latest efforts are part of a legal challenge against indefinite detention that IRC and ACLU began back in November 2006 when they filed lawsuits in district court seeking the release of four immigrant men held in indefinite detention. Mark Baller ('08), Kimere Kimball ('08) and Michael Kaufman ('07) developed arguments presented in briefs and at oral argument.
Students enrolled in the clinic participate in all aspects of case development, including interviewing clients and witnesses, investigating facts, writing pleadings, developing case strategy, conducting legal research, and/or presenting cases. Highlighted below are selected IRC victories on behalf of individual clients.
Yulia Garteiser ('05) and Jackie Chou ('06) represented Hoa Kien Chau, a longtime legal permanent resident of the United States. Chau was placed in removal (deportation) proceedings because of an old minor conviction for which he had previously served time. Chau is now an integral part of the San Francisco Vietnamese immigrant community and works in a Tenderloin cafe located in the heart of the community. Garteiser and Chou conducted extensive factual investigation and wrote detailed briefs on Chau's behalf. In April 2005, they successfully argued in immigration court that Chau should be allowed to remain in the country because of his strong connection to his community and the United States.
Adam Anderson ('06) and Seema Shah ('05) represented Gia Hung Le, a Vietnamese immigrant who has lived in the Bay Area since he was in high school. Le was placed in removal (deportation) proceedings because of an old minor criminal conviction for which he already served time. Anderson and Shah argued that Le should be allowed to remain in the country because his immediate family resides in the United States and he considers this country his home. In April 2005, Immigration Judge Ramirez ruled in Le's favor and allowed him to remain the United States.
Nick Jabbour ('05) and Susan Park ('06) represented an Asian immigrant woman (Jane Doe 1) who is a survivor of domestic violence. In May, 2005, Jabbour and Park filed a detailed application—including numerous affidavits and a lengthy brief—with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Jabbour and Park argued that their client should be allowed to remain in the United States because she suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, U.S. citizen. The DHS granted Jane Doe 1's application for relief. Clinic students Gloria Borges ('07) and Alex Han ('06) represented Jane Doe 1 at her administrative "adjustment" interview in the fall of 2005. As a result of the hearing, Jane Doe 1 received her green card and continues to remain in the United States.
In February 2006, Olga Kuskova ('07) and Chris Walker ('06) successfully argued that Rene Tellez, a longtime lawful permanent resident of the United States, should be allowed to remain in the country. Tellez, who has lived in the United States as a legal permanent resident since 1958 when he left Mexico, was placed in removal proceedings because of an old criminal conviction for which he served a few months time. Kuskova and Walker argued that he should be granted discretionary relief, and demonstrated that his positive equities—including his relationship to his U.S. citizen wife and children—far outweighed any negative equities. In granting relief, Immigration Judge Marks stated that the briefing was "excellent."
Sonya Sanchez ('06) and Nicole Janisiewicz ('06) represented an undocumented Mexican immigrant woman (Jane Doe 2) who is a survivor of domestic violence. Janisiewicz and Sanchez applied for a "U visa" which is designed to protect victims of crime even if they are undocumented. Congress created the U visa to encourage victims of crime, including survivors of domestic violence, to report crimes regardless of their immigration status. Janisiewicz and Sanchez persuaded the district attorney, who prosecuted Jane Doe 2's husband for domestic violence related crimes, to certify that Jane Doe 2 helped the prosecution. As a result of their efforts, DHS granted Jane Doe 2 relief under the U visa provisions. She has been allowed to remain in the United States with her family.
Nicole Janisiewicz ('06) and June Shih ('06) represented Hung Nguyen, a lawful permanent resident of the United States who has lived in San Jose for the past 17 years. Nguyen was placed in removal (deportation) proceedings for an old criminal conviction for which he had served a few months in jail several years ago. Shih and Janisiewicz successfully argued, in a three-hour contested hearing, that Nguyen should be able to stay in the U.S. in order to care for his ailing mother as well as provide for his young U.S. citizen daughter. In March 2006, Immigration Judge Griswold granted Nguyen relief from removal which allowed him to remain with his family in the United States. Aravinda Seshadri also worked on Nguyen's case during the fall 2005 semester.
The Immigrants' Rights Clinic obtained in March 2007 immigration status for M., an undocumented woman from Mexico who survived extensive abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. Ray Ybarra ('07) and Katherine Edsall ('07) convinced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that M. deserved to stay in the United States based on her assistance with the criminal investigation of her attacker. M. can now remain in the United States with her children.
In another victory, the IRC obtained in January 2008 relief under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) on behalf of A., an undocumented woman from Mexico who survived physical and psychological abuse by her U.S. citizen husband. Hewan Teshome ('08) and Peter Schermerhorn ('08) argued that A. she should be allowed to remain in the United States with her children and family based on the domestic violence that she had endured. Thanks to Pete and Hewan, A. can now remain in the United States with her family and children.
In January 2008, IRC client Romeo Eclarino was granted the opportunity to remain in the United States, where he has lived since he was a child. The IRC convinced the Santa Clara Superior Court to expunge the client's first-time minor drug offense, and then persuaded an immigration judge to terminate the removal proceedings. Michael Kaufman ('07), Mark Baller ('08), Eunice Cho ('09) and Laura Hurtado ('09) worked extensively with Mr. Eclarino to develop his case, interviewing witnesses, conducting research, and writing legal arguments.
Unfortunately, our limited resources do not allow us to function as a general provider of legal services, or research and investigate problems that come to our attention, no matter how legitimate they may be.
The IRC is not an attorney referral service. For a list of attorneys and/or information about agencies that assist with legal matters at a reduced or low cost rate, please contact the following organizations:
The State Bar of California or call 1 866 442.2529
American Immigration Lawyers Associations Immigration Lawyer Search or call 1 800 954.0254