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#Immigrant Justice Clinic

The Immigrant Justice Clinic works to meet the legal needs of Wisconsin’s underserved immigrant community while training law students in cutting-edge aspects of immigration law. Under the supervision of IJC clinical faculty, students provide direct representation to low-income immigrants in removal proceedings, provide assessments of immigration consequences to noncitizens facing criminal charges, and assist immigrants in need of post-conviction relief. Students enrolled in the Humanitarian Law Track (HLT) provide legal services to noncitizen victims of crime, persecution, and human trafficking who are seeking various forms of humanitarian relief. By assuming responsibility for matters affecting low-income immigrants, students gain experience with a holistic, client-centered model of legal representation, and emerge with a deep understanding of the interplay between race, poverty, language, culture, immigration status and the law.

IJC Successes

IJC Wins Doubleheader in State Court, Immigration Court

IJC students successfully fought the deportation of a young father of two through efforts in both state and federal immigration court. Client, originally from the Dominican Republic, has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since the age of five. IJC students met client during one of their monthly visits to immigration detainees held in the Dodge County Jail. Client was facing deportation based on a 2012 conviction for fleeing from the police, and was ineligible for bond. Although he received probation with an imposed and stayed sentence of one year, ICE alleged that client was deportable for an “aggravated felony” based on the one year sentence. IJC students discovered that his criminal defense attorney had incorrectly advised him that his plea would not affect his immigration status. Based on this information, IJC students Chris Russell and Loredana Valtierra filed a successful motion to modify client's sentence in state court to 364 days - one crucial day less than the sentence he was originally given. This one day reduction in his sentence meant client was now eligible to fight his case in immigration court and ask the Immigration Judge to “cancel” his deportation. Russell and Valtierra briefed the case and then conducted the entire hearing in the Chicago Immigration Court, from opening statement through direct exam of witnesses. At the end of the two hour hearing, the Immigration Judge granted his application and canceled his deportation. After five months in ICE custody, client was finally released, joyfully reunited with his family and went home.

IJC Prevents Deportation of Laotian Refugee

IJC students prevented the deportation of Laotian refugee whose family came to the United States when he was four years old. His father is 92 years old and a veteran of the Hmong forces who fought with the United States in the Vietnam War. Both of the client’s parents are now U.S. citizens, as are most of his siblings. He is married to a U.S. citizen and they have 2 young boys. Client struggled with addiction issues and had two marijuana-related convictions. As a result, he was placed in deportation proceedings and held in ICE custody without bond while his case was pending. IJC students Lola Bovell and Alexis Blanco briefed and argued the case in the Chicago Immigration Court. In the summer of 2014, the Immigration Judge granted relief and he was not deported.

IJC Partners with Family Court Clinic to Protect Immigrant Children

IJC’s collaboration with the EJI Family Court Clinic proved successful in the representation of a mother and two young girls from Honduras who fled to the United States to escape severe physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the girls’ father, who has ties to drug trafficking gangs in Honduras. IJC student Liz Bradley and Family Court Clinic student Lynn Lodahl filed a divorce petition for the mother in state court, and were able to overcome jurisdictional and legal hurdles to get the court commissioner to make the necessary findings for the minor girls to be able to petition for “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.” SIJS is a special form of relief available to undocumented children who cannot be returned to their home country due to abuse, abandonment or neglect.

IJC Wins Appeal for Torture Victim

IJC won an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals on behalf of a Mexican man who had been tortured by gangs in Mexico. The client had won protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) at the lower court level, but the government appealed the decision. CAT protections relate to the U.S.’s obligations under international law to not return people to countries where they would more likely than not face torture. IJC student Rick Manthe wrote a successful appeal brief on the client’s behalf and the BIA upheld his deferral of removal under CAT.

IJC’s Collaboration with Remington Center Clinic Equals Success

IJC students’ collaboration with other UW law school clinics secures victory for immigrant clients in state court and immigration court. Clinical students Rick Manthe and Liz Bradley worked with student Amanda Kuklinski from the Remington Center’s LAIP program to seek post-conviction relief for a man from the Dominican Republic. The client, who is a lawful permanent resident, had not been properly advised that his plea to a single misdemeanor would result in his deportation. IJC students successfully argued for a bond reduction, allowing him to get out of ICE custody and be reunited with his family as his case proceeded. LAIP students filed a successful motion to withdraw his prior plea and he pled to a new charge that will not result in his deportation. IJC students are now filing a motion to terminate removal proceedings in in the Chicago Immigration Court so our client can keep his lawful status and remain with his family in Milwaukee as he anxiously awaits the birth of his grandchild.

IJC Appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals for Justice

IJC accepted an appointment by the Board of Immigration Appeal’s Pro Bono Project to assist a lawful permanent resident appeal his deportation order. IJC students Rick Manthe and Michael Chandler wrote a compelling appellate brief on complex areas of immigration and criminal law. As a result, the case was remanded and the government stipulated to a grant of cancellation of removal. The client was released from detention and is now back at home with his wife and 14-year-old U.S. citizen son who suffers from severe autism.

IJC Students Win Cancellation of Removal for Victim of Severe Domestic Violence

IJC clinical students kicked off the 2014 school year with an early win in the Chicago Immigration Court for a Mexican man who was the victim of severe domestic violence at the hands of his U.S. citizen wife. His now ex-wife had stabbed him on two separate occasions, each resulting in him being hospitalized. Our client had lived in the United States for over 12 years and has a 16-year-old daughter with lawful status. Working in collaboration with the UW School of Social Work, IJC students obtained a psychological assessment of the client and his daughter to demonstrate the impact his removal would have on them. In November 2013, students Lola Bovell and Sam Wegleitner successfully argued the case and the immigration judge granted our client cancellation of removal. After spending more than a year in ICE custody, our client was released and has since been reunited with his daughter.

IJC Wins Asylum for Woman Who Feared Female Genital Mutilation

IJC students secured an asylum grant by immigration judge for a Gambian women who feared that she would be forcibly subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) if deported to Gambia. Clinic students prepared the brief and supporting documents, obtained an expert affidavit, and worked with the client to prepare her for testifying in court.