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.
IRC students Alison Sylvester ('09) and Julia Weiland ('09) published an op-ed in the San Francisco Daily Journal entitled "Unlawful Immigration Raids Should Trouble All Americans."
The IRC just issued a white paper entitled, "Limited English Proficient Parents and the Juvenile Justice System: A White Paper on Language Access in San Mateo County, California." Prepared on behalf of IRC client Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE), the white paper joins a small but growing national and state-wide conversation on the ability of Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents with youth in the juvenile justice system to effectively communicate with probation departments about their children's cases. The white paper looks closely at language access issues at the county probation department in San Mateo County, California and presents preliminary recommendations for the County. IRC students Yara Lomeli-Loibl ('09), Kavita Narayan ('08), Alice Yuan ('08) and Ruthie Zemel ('09) worked on the report, building off earlier work performed for AACRE by former IRC students Liz Morris ('08), Hillary Ley ('07) and Olga Kuskova ('07).
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.
For the past several years, the Immigrants' Rights Clinic has represented Amadou Diouf and Raymond Soeoth, two men who have been subjected to prolonged immigration detention while they fight their deportation cases. Along with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project and the ACLU of Southern California, the Immigrants' Rights Clinic prevailed in district court, and Mr. Diouf and Mr. Soeoth were released from detention. The government appealed their cases to the Ninth Circuit, where the cases were consolidated with two other prolonged detention cases. IRC and the ACLU wrote detailed amicus briefs in the other two cases. Recently, the Ninth Circuit issued landmark decisions in two of the cases, holding that non-citizens who challenge their deportation and obtain stays of removal from the Ninth Circuit, must be given bond hearings before they can be detained. The IRC is still awaiting a decision in one of the cases (Mr. Soeoth's case was settled out of court). IRC students Mark Baller ('08), Michael Kaufman ('07), and Kimere Kimball ('08) worked on the prolonged detention cases.
IRC client H. is a lawful permanent resident with two old convictions for shoplifting. The Department of Homeland Security put H. into removal (deportation) proceedings upon her return from China where she was visiting her ailing mother. In the fall of 2007, IRC students Alice Yuan ('08) and Kavita Narayan ('08) represented H. in her first immigration proceedings, forcing the government to meet its burden of demonstrating that H. is deportable. In the spring of 2008, Kavita and IRC student Hewan Teshome ('08) filed for a waiver from removal in immigration court. Hewan and Kavita prepared expert affidavits, prepared witnesses for direct and cross-examination, conducted fact and legal research, and wrote a lengthy brief about how H.'s U.S. citizen daughter would suffer hardship if H. was removed to China. H. and her daughter are associated with a Chinese house church, and could face harassment from the Chinese government if they returned to China. Kavita argued the case in immigration court, defending her client against tough cross-examination in a 3 hour contested hearing. Most recently, the clinic represented H. at her last immigration court hearing, where H. finally prevailed. The immigration judge praised the students for their excellent advocacy on behalf of H.
The IRC represented Jane Doe 3, who had previously obtained temporary relief under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in an adjustment interview. Because of IRC's advocacy, Jane Doe 3 finally received her green card. Former IRC students Hewan Teshome ('08) and Pete Schermerhorn ('08) prepared the client's original VAWA self-petition, which allowed her to pursue the path to receiving a green card.
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 Association's Immigration Lawyer Search or call 1 800 954.0254
In 2008 the Immigrants' Rights Clinic welcomed the inaugural members of their Legal Advisory Board (LAB). The experienced attorneys on the LAB have generously volunteered expert advice and guidance on various areas of immigration law to the clinic.
The current members of the Legal Advisory Board are:
Susan Bowyer has been Managing Attorney at the Oakland Office of the International Institute of the Bay Area since 2003. IIBA provides immigration legal services for low income immigrants, and has special expertise in immigration applications for survivors of domestic violence and other crimes. Susan is a 1992 graduate of Stanford Law School, where she was a Public Service Law Fellow. She has also worked as a staff attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and was Acting Director of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment.
Randall Caudle is an immigration attorney in San Francisco, CA where he represents businesses, families and individuals from around the world. Caudle is also an Adjunct Law Professor of Immigration & Refugee law at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, CA. Randall is currently the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Santa Clara Valley Chapter President and also serves on the AILA National Board of Governors.
Caudle has served on various AILA National committees, including serving for 3 years on the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services California Service Center liaison committee. Caudle is currently the chair of the AILA National Fundamentals conference in Memphis, TN and is a frequent speaker at both national and local AILA conferences for immigration attorneys. Randall also serves on AILA National's Military Assistance Program (MAP), which helps Judge Advocate General (JAG) attorneys and U.S. military service members with immigration issues.
Caudle serves as a mentor attorney for the U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants Rights, National Center for Immigrant & Refugee Children. Caudle is also a former in-house immigration attorney for a technology company in Silicon Valley.
Sin Yen Ling is a staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus focusing on immigrants rights. She is a former staff attorney at the New York-based Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) where she has spent 6 years conducting litigation and advocacy in the areas of anti-Asian violence, racial profiling and immigrant detention/deportation. A native New Yorker, Ling was born in Manhattan's Chinatown to immigrant parents who worked in garment factories and restaurants. She is a graduate of New York University and City University of New York School of Law. Ling managed AALDEF's Immigrant Access to Justice Project which has been at the forefront of providing direct representation to South Asian, Arab, Filipino and Muslim immigrant detainees facing indefinite detention after September 11 and has been a leading advocate for the defense of civil liberties and civil rights of immigrants and their families.
Ling has been quoted in the New York Times, Newsweek, New Jersey Law Journal, Crain's New York Business and the Financial Times and has been profiled in the Village Voice. In 2002, she was selected as one of the Top 25 Lawyers Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In 2003, she was awarded the New York County Lawyer's Association's Public Service Award and the Joseph Minsky Young Lawyers Award by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In 2005, she received the Alumni award from CUNY Law School's Public Interest Law Association, Proclamation of Service from New York City's City Council, and the Community Service Award from the Islamic Circle of North America.
Joren Lyons is a 1999 graduate of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, where he focused on immigration and refugee law. Upon graduation, Lyons was accepted into the U.S. Justice Department's Honors Program for a two-year assignment as a staff research attorney with the San Francisco Immigration Court, where he handled a wide variety of immigration issues. He then joined Angela M. Bean & Associates, a small San Francisco firm focusing on family-based immigration, deportation defense, asylum, and naturalization. Since 2003, he has been a staff attorney in the Immigrant Rights Program at the nonprofit Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco. Lyons has conducted several trainings on immigration law and deportation defense for the American Immigration Lawyers' Association, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the National Lawyers' Guild, and the Bar Association of San Francisco. He has also been active in volunteer work on behalf of the immigrant community as Supervising Attorney for the volunteer-run Asian Community Immigration Clinic. Joren is a member of the California State Bar, and is admitted to practice before the federal courts of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Northern District of California.
Bernardo Merino was born in Mexico and moved with his family to the United States in 1985. After his graduation from the University of California, San Diego with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science, Merino returned to Mexico to work with the organization Alianza Civica as an Electoral Observer for the 1994 Mexican presidential election. From 1995 to 1996, Bernardo served as speechwriter and advisor to the President of the Mexican Senate. Merino earned a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Law School. Merino is a member of the California State Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. His practice focuses in immigration matters exclusively.
Daniel Shanfield is the founding attorney of Daniel Shanfield, Esq. & Associates - Immigration Defense. He has previously served as an INS litigation attorney who advised the Government on a wide array of immigration law issues. Before entering private practice, Shanfield was the Legal Services Manager with the U.S. refugee program in Vienna, Austria, and was adjunct clinical law professor at New York Law School in Downtown Manhattan. Shanfield has also served in Central Asia as a migration and refugee advisor to the United Nations, and as an attorney overseeing pro bono legal representation in New York for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, now Human Rights First. While in law school, Shanfield externed for the Honorable Thomas S. Zilly in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Shanfield is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and UCLA. He is past Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and past Chair of the Immigration Section of the Santa Clara County Bar Association. Daniel is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco's Pro Bono Immigration Court Panel and an asylum law mentor for the San Francisco Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.
Ilyce Shugall has been practicing law since 1999. She joined Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale, LLP, in October of 2001. Her practice focuses on all areas of removal defense, the intersection between criminal and immigration law, family based immigration, and asylum. She also represents victims of domestic violence and other serious crimes in applications for visas and permanent residency. Her practice also includes advising criminal defense attorneys of the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Prior to joining Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale, LLP, Shugall worked for two years at the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) as a National Association of Public Interest Law Equal Justice Fellow. At ProBAR, Shugall conducted daily live group rights presentations to individuals detained by the legacy INS and provided direct representation to indigent immigrants before the Immigration Court. While in law school, Shugall worked at the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University and spent a summer in Lima, Peru working for the Defensoria del Pueblo.Shugall is fluent in Spanish.
Shugall is an active member of the National Lawyers Guild and served on the executive board of the Bay Area Chapter from 2004 to 2007. She is currently serving as the Executive Office for Immigration Review Pro Bono Coordinator for the Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.