Immigration & Human Rights Clinic
Students in the Immigration & Human Rights Clinic learn about the specialized area of immigration law with a particular focus on removal defense in immigration court and asylum representation. Students represent clients under the supervision of the clinic director. In addition to attending the required twice-weekly seminar, students meet in teams with their supervisor and participate in case rounds. Students represent clients at interviews with immigration officials and/or litigate in Immigration Court or the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Clinic Phone
202.274.6428 or 202.274.7389
Clinic Co-Directors
Professor Jocelyn Cazares Willingham
jocelyn.cazareswilli@udc.edu
Professor Anne Schaufele
anne.schaufele@udc.edu
The Clinic advocates for clients living in Washington, DC, and the greater metropolitan area and focuses on cases before the Arlington immigration court and Arlington asylum office. Immigration and Human Rights Clinic clients come from all over the world and recently have included individuals from Haiti, Nigeria, Pakistan, Honduras, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Guatemala, Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
Students in the clinic will gain substantive expertise in humanitarian immigration law, build critical interviewing skills, develop fact investigation, engage in legal analysis and legal writing, along with oral advocacy before the asylum office and/or in immigration court. The Clinic aims to stand beside clients and advocate using trauma-informed, client-centered, and critical lawyering. In supervision and in the Clinic seminar, we wrestle with how to sustainably practice law while serving vulnerable client populations.
The Clinic substance depends on the docket for the semester. In the past, students have engaged in running pro se clinics for families in the DC area seeking to file for asylum protection along with jail visits in partnership with CAIR Coalition. The Clinic has also traveled to serve Afghan evacuees at military bases in Virginia and worked with Al Otro Lado in Tijuana, Mexico, to serve individuals subjected to the Migrant Protection Protocols (also known as “Remain in Mexico”). The Clinic prepares students to advocate for immigrants, with a special focus on asylum seekers.
Immigration and Human Rights Clinic Welcomes New Co-Directors
From left Professor Anne Schaufele and Professor Jocelyn B. Cazares Willingham The Immigration and Human Rights Clinic welcomes two new directors, Professor Jocelyn B. Cazares
Immigration and Human Rights Clinic Professor Jocelyn Cazares Willingham Contributes to “Asylum, Agency, and Victim Narrative” to SAGE Encyclopedia of Refugee Studies
Professor Jocelyn Cazares Willingham was invited to make a significant contribution to the SAGE Encyclopedia of Refugee Studies, a monumental undertaking spearheaded by the Critical
The Impactful Work of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic Students
The Immigration and Human Rights Clinic has marked a year of triumphant resolutions for clients and valuable learning opportunities for students. In the past year,