NYU School of Law

Immigrant Defense Clinic

Introduction

This course will be offered to up to 10 students in the Spring 2010 semester as a semester-long, 5-credit course. This clinic focuses on the intersection between immigration law and criminal law and is separate from the year-long Immigrant Rights Clinic.

Course Description

The Immigrant Defense Clinic provides students with real-life lawyering experiences. Students collaborate with experienced attorneys in the representation of detained and non-detained indigent non-citizens, facing removal from the United States because of criminal convictions and other immigration law violations. Under current immigration law, non-citizens with old or minor criminal offenses such as jumping a turnstile, petty larceny or possession of marijuana are subject to removal from the United States no matter how long they have resided in this country or how strong their family ties in the United States. Although deportation practically constitutes banishment, non-citizens in removal proceedings have no right to an attorney at government expense. Clients are screened through various projects including the Immigration Representation Project at 26 Federal Plaza, where the main immigration court in New York is located, at immigration detention facilities and through referrals from community based organizations.

Fieldwork
Students  in the clinic will have the opportunity to work one on one with staff attorneys at The Legal Aid Society's Immigration Law Unit. Students will work on every facet of litigation including conducting client interviews, investigating facts, developing case strategy, preparing applications for relief from removal, preparing supporting document packets for submission to Immigration Court, assisting with preparation of witnesses for evidentiary merits hearings, legal research and writing briefs and memoranda of law. Students attend master calendar and individual merits hearings. In addition, 3Ls will have an opportunity to provide direct representation to indigent clients in Immigration Court, under the supervision of their field work attorney. Students also have an opportunity to conduct Know Your Rights presentations at immigration detention facilities.

Seminar
The seminar component of the clinic meets once a week for two hours and complements students' fieldwork. The seminar introduces students to immigration institutions and procedures. We explore the history of deportation and the impact of some of the recent immigration laws: the Antiterrorism, and Effective Death Penalty Act, Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and USA PATRIOT Act. The seminar discusses grounds of deportability and inadmissibility, relief from removal, the intersection between immigration and criminal law and mandatory detention provisions and developing case law. Following a discussion on interviewing and how to develop a theory of the case, students engage in simulated interviewing exercises.  The seminar also explores ethical issues unique to the practice of immigration law. During the course of the semester, other stakeholders in the removal process including an immigration court judge, an attorney from the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a criminal defense attorney are invited to share their perspective and roles in the removal process. Guest appearances by a clinical psychologist and a journalist help students delve into the human impact of removal and how to work with the media to effect changes in immigration laws. Weekly seminars end with case rounds during which students discuss their ongoing cases.

Application Procedure

Students should submit the standard application, resume and unofficial transcript using CAMS, the online application system.There will be no interview. If you have questions regarding the application procedure, please contact Susan Hodges.

Student Contacts

The following students were in the IDC in Spring 2009:
 Tun-Yu Chiang
 Julie Dona
 Parisa Elahi
 Alicia Gayle
 Lauren Gesserman
 Nancy Hull
 Yuliya Lapitskaya
 Jeannette Markle
 Julia Sheketoff
 Kara Werner

* 5 credits includes 3 clinical credits and 2 academic seminar credits.

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