The Challenge of Teaching
Immigration Law Practice in a Time of Crisis
Since January 2017, American immigration law and policy
have entered a time of unprecedented change. The
expanded role of immigration lawyers in this volatile
environment has required students, fellows, graduates, and
pro bono volunteers to learn not only how to provide
individual client representation in 65+ cases, but also to:
1) conduct five distinctive legislative advocacy projects at the
local, county, state, and federal levels;
2) offer 14 public education workshops /advisory clinics for
varied communities, including Pace students/ faculty/staff, on
DACA, the Muslim ban, ICE raid planning, and the impact of
Presidential Orders;
3) collaborate with the Westchester District Attorney's
Immigrant Affairs Unit;
4) participate in the Second Circuit Task Force on
Representation in Removal Proceedings and the Empire State
Liberty Defense Project; and
5) travel to the Texas border to represent dozens of traumatized
Central American women and child detainees in rapid-fire
removal proceedings.
To be investigated and assessed:
-- type and amount of resources to achieve
sufficient capacity – time, credits, costs, energy,
focus – and adjust and gauge legal training to
specific levels of professional development;
-- receptivity of students to value of experience with
nontraditional nonlitigation lawyering competences;
-- viability of Certificate in Immigration Law
and/or LL.M. in Immigration Practice to meet need
for more sophisticated preparation and broader
range of skills.
Elizabeth S. Haub School of Law at Pace University
• Professor Vanessa Merton
• Professor Thomas McDonnell
• Immigration Justice Clinic Student Attorneys
2017-2018 and Fellows
• Pro Bono attorneys and law graduate volunteers
• Community Partner Organizations
