7610. Clinic: Asylum and Human Rights Fieldwork

Students in this clinic represent persons seeking asylum in the United States. Asylum – which provides a path to lawful status and eventual citizenship for individuals who could otherwise face deportation – is available to persons who suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their home country because of their race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Students in this clinic exercise primary responsibility for all aspects of the asylum process, working intensively (usually in teams of two) on one individual’s or family’s case. Students interview and counsel their clients; investigate the relevant facts; prepare asylum and employment authorization applications; draft detailed narrative affidavits presenting their clients’ testimony; develop a legal theory of the case; identify fact witnesses and experts and elicit testimony from those witnesses; conduct legal and country conditions research; prepare an extensive package of supporting documentary evidence, along with an annotated index of exhibits; draft a legal brief and any necessary motions; and represent their clients at trial. Students may also handle post-asylum matters, such as applications for permanent residency, derivative asylum petitions for qualifying relatives, or appeals arising from grants or denials of asylum. Classroom seminars focus on the substantive and procedural law relevant to asylum claims; the lawyering skills that students will utilize in their cases; legal, tactical, and ethical issues that arise in the cases; and critical reflection on the legal system and the lawyer’s role. This is a two-semester clinic, and students must enroll for the entire academic year. Students must enroll in both Law 7609 (seminar component) and Law 7610 (fieldwork component). 9 credits in the fall (4 credits seminar, 5 credits fieldwork), and 5 credits in the spring (2 credits seminar, 3 credits fieldwork).