The Refugee and Immigrant Rights Litigation Clinic is a
full-year litigation clinic offered in partnership with the
Immigration Legal Services Department of Catholic Charities
in New York City. Under the supervision of senior attorneys,
students represent immigrants – mostly refugees and asylees –in
proceedings at the administrative level and in the United States
Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits. Students also
represent children in Department of Homeland Security custody who
were victims of abuse or neglect in their home countries. These
cases typically arise under the Violence Against Women Act and the
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.
Providing representation from initial client contact through final
resolution of the case, students in the Clinic:
- Interview clients
- Assist in Know-Your-Rights presentations at the Children’s
Village custody facility
- Conduct full-scale fact investigations
- Perform legal research
- Develop a case theory that integrates the relevant facts and
law
- Attend administrative hearings and court proceedings
Whether invited to give their opinion about matters, to propose
solutions, or to handle meetings and conversations with experts or
opponents, the students quickly become aware that their work
directly affects lives and respond with creativity and zeal. While
most Clinic students have limited prior experience and knowledge in
the field, their best performance is inevitably drawn out as they
experience the Clinic as a collaborative process.
For almost 60 years, Catholic Charities has helped thousands of
individuals and families in New York City live humane and
flourishing lives. It fulfills its mission of serving the basic
needs of the poor, troubled, weak and oppressed through activities
in five areas:
- Protecting and nurturing children and youth
- Strengthening families and resolving crises
- Supporting the physically and emotionally challenged
- Feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless
- Welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees
The Immigrant Legal Services Department of Catholic Charities
serves indigent and low-income immigrants and refugees throughout
metropolitan New York and at fourteen satellite sites in its
ten-county jurisdiction.
Please
contact us to learn more about the Refugee and Immigrant Rights
Litigation Clinic.