Cases and Projects -- Academic Year 2015-2016

Centre Country Bar Association Collaboration

The Centre County Bar Association has approximately 180 members, and includes trial attorneys, judges, government attorneys, corporate attorneys and general practitioners in the Centre region. The Bar Association's purpose is to foster and protect excellence in legal services to the public in general and to promote respect, civility, collegiality and professionalism within the legal community. The Bar Association serves low-income residents through a referral service and also works with MidPenn Legal Services, a non-profit that provides high quality civil legal services to low-income residents and survivors of domestic violence in 18 counties in Central Pennsylvania.

On behalf of the Centre County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee, the Center for Immigrants’ Rights clinic will play a supporting role in immigration cases within the Centre County region and surrounding area. Working under the supervision of Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, students will meet with low-income individuals seeking immigration help, assist with matching such individuals with an immigration attorney and prepare research memos and supporting documents for individuals who are represented by a pro bono or public service attorney. As practicable, students may  present Continuing Legal Education Programs for the bar on immigration topics.

Learning Goals: Legal research and analysis, problem solving, collaboration, client interviewing, and cross-cultural communication.

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University of Pittsburgh Immigration Clinic Collaboration

The Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic collaborates with the University of Pittsburgh’s Immigration Law Clinic (“Pitt Law Immigration Clinic”) to facilitate legal support for noncitizens scheduled for removal proceedings in Pittsburgh. In this capacity, students at the Center will screen select individuals and refer them to Pitt Law Immigration Clinic as necessary.

Students will also provide legal research and support for select individuals.  

Pitt Law Immigration Clinic assists individuals who appear pro se Master at Calendar Hearings in Pittsburgh. They also represent individuals requesting asylum, facing removal from the United States and seeking special protection under the Violence Against Women Act. Clients may include refugees, immigrant women and children survivors of domestic violence applying to change their status, persons with criminal convictions who seek relief from removal from the United States, and other immigrant populations.

Learning Goals

Collaboration, client interviewing, and legal research and analysis. 

Pro Bono Asylum Case- Collaboration with Law Office of Juliette E. Gomez

The Center will assist M who is seeking asylum (and related relief) after facing harm in her home country. The Center will primarily assist by interviewing M, drafting an affidavit and as practicable gathering supplementary and supporting documentation for her asylum application.

Asylum is a form of protection available to certain people in the United States who have suffered persecution and/or will suffer such harm in the future because of their race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership in a particular social group. The persecution must be individualized and perpetrated by the government or a group or person that the government is unable or unwilling to control.  

The Law Office of Juliette E. Gomez is based in Philadelphia, PA and specializes in removal defense and creative solutions for undocumented and transnational families.

Learning goals

Client-centered communications, legal research and analysis, empathy, multi-dimensional lawyering, professional judgment, legal writing, and collaboration.

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Collaboration with Local Government on Immigration

In fall 2015, the Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic collaborated with the office of the Mayor and Borough of State College and Police Chief Thomas King to deliver a presentation on local police and immigration enforcement. During this event, Police Chief King indicated his support for a written policy on this topic to include among other things restrictions on asking about immigration status when victims and witnesses report crimes. During the spring semester, the Center will work with both the Mayor and Chief King to develop and build support for this policy.

Learning Goals

Legal research and analysis, multidimensional lawyering, public speaking, empathy, professional judgment, problem solving, attorney-client relationship building, leadership, collaboration.

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Toolkit on Lawful Permanent Resident Cancellation of Removal

Located less than a mile from York County Prison, the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) has become the leading source of legal services to immigrants detained by DHS in Pennsylvania. York County Prison houses approximately 700 detainees on a daily basis. PIRC delivers legal orientation presentations to detainees at York County Prison and Berks Family Shelter, provides individual legal consultations, self-help assistance and referrals, and offers limited direct pro bono representation to the most vulnerable immigrant detainees — including torture survivors and detainees with severe mental or physical disability. In providing legal and educational resources to detained populations, PIRC seeks to empower unrepresented immigrants to evaluate and manifest their defenses against deportation from the United States. On behalf of PIRC, the Center will update a “toolkit” published by the Center in 2010 on Cancellation of Removal for permanent residents (LPR cancellation) for use by PIRC attorneys. LPR cancellation is a remedy under immigration law available to qualifying noncitizens who can demonstrate five years in the United States as a permanent resident (green card holder), seven years of continuous residence, the absence of a serious criminal history, and that such relief is warranted as a discretionary matter. LPR cancellation is available only after a person has been placed in “removal” proceedings and may be granted by an immigration judge. In order to update the toolkit, the Center will review and research legal standards, practice advisories, and related material pertaining to LPR cancellation. As practicable, the Center will collect and analyze related information from attorneys and advocates. The toolkit included sample documents and case summaries.

Learning Goals

Legal analysis and editing, objective and persuasive writing, written and oral communication, reflective lawyering, professional judgment, interviewing, problem solving, and collaboration.

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U.S. Attorney’s Office and Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of PA

The Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic collaborates with U.S. Attorney’s Office and Federal Public Defender to discuss mutual issues of interest on immigration. In this capacity, students of the Center have organized in-person meetings and/or conference calls with these offices, and developed written memos and guidance on topics that include prosecutorial priorities, the role of discretion and criminal reentry and entry prosecutions.  

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the federal judicial district for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. U.S. Attorneys are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The office prosecutes criminal cases brought by the Federal government. The Federal Public Defender provides legal representation to persons facing federal criminal charges who have been approved for the appointment of counsel.

Learning Goals

Legal research and analysis, multidimensional lawyering, public speaking, professional judgment, problem solving, leadership, collaboration.

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Group Rights Presentations at Clinton County Correctional Facility

Many detained non-citizens are deported without access to a lawyer or basic information about the requirements for applying for relief from removal or seeking release from detention. Without court-appointed counsel or sufficient resources to provide education, immigration detainees are often forced to navigate their cases alone. Under the detention standards put forth by ICE, immigration detainees have a right to group legal presentations on U.S. immigration law and procedure. Penn State Law’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights has been approved by ICE to conduct these presentations at Clinton County Correctional Facility (“CCJ”). CCJ, a county jail located approximately 45 minutes away in McElhattan, PA, is used as a holding facility by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO). Under the supervision Professor Wadhia, students at the Center will conduct group legal presentations to immigration detainees held at CCJ to inform them about the deportation process and possible immigration remedies. To reach this end, students will research primary sources related to deportation procedure and relief from removal, practice oral communication by using a script developed for these presentations and collaborate with interpreters, CCJ staff and ICE as needed.

Learning Goals

Multi-dimensional lawyering, cross-cultural communication, oral advocacy, legal research and analysis, empathy.

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Third Circuit Blog

In collaboration with the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC), the Center maintains a law blog on precedential and select non-precedential Third Circuit decisions, with a focus on decisions involving legal remedies available to immigrants in removal proceedings or in detention. Occasionally, outside contributors will are solicited to offer specific view points on recent decisions. Additionally, the blog posts resources and relevant news and events for practitioners and advocates.

Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) is a non-profit legal services organization founded in 1996 in the aftermath of the Golden Venture grounding. The Golden Venture ship beached off the coast of Long Island with nearly three hundred Chinese refugees aboard who were fleeing persecution in the forms of forced sterilization and abortion. Consequent to immigration policies that mandate the detention of some asylum seekers, many Golden Venture refugees were detained at York County Prison in York, Pennsylvania, by the current Department of Homeland Security (DHS).