“The Immigration Clinic filled in the gaps in my legal education left by the conventional classroom. Working with real clients, going to court, and writing appellate briefs has given me a comprehensive view of what it means to be a practicing attorney, and has, most importantly prepared me to be one also.”
James “Jim” D. Cypert, 3L
Immigration Clinic I & II Fall 2010, Spring and Fall 2011
Remembering Professor Joseph A. Vail
Click here to visit TexasLawHelp.
What’s Happening in the Immigration Clinic.
Fall 2011 Immigration Newsletter
UH Immigration Clinic Wins Appeal for Couple from Mali (ASYLUM GRANTED)
UHLC clinic wins parole for Iraqi refugee
Precedential Decision in Matter of M-A-M- (BIA decision setting forth Mental Competency Standards)
The Supreme Court’s decision in Carachuri (June 14, 2010)
UH Law Immigration Clinic in the Houston Chronicle (June 17, 2010)
Immigration Clinic Director Geoffrey Hoffman, Clinical Assistant Professor Janet Beck, and Clinical Supervising Attorneys Jill Campbell and Susham Modi
THE IMMIGRATION CLINIC specializes in handling applications for asylum on behalf of victims of torture and persecution, in representing immigrants who have been the victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and crime, and children and those fleeing civil war, genocide or political repression. Students also give presentations to outside organizations that deal with Immigrant Issues and give individual assistance to immigrants held in immigration detention centers.
Clinic students are assigned a variety of immigration cases. Under close faculty supervision, they are responsible for handling the cases from the initial interview through the conclusion of the case, including trial, if needed.
The Immigration Practice Clinic has a classroom component that meets for two hours a week for 14 weeks over the course of the semester. The classroom component provides students with an understanding of the basics of asylum law, citizenship, removal defense, and laws protecting immigrant victims of human trafficking and family violence. The classroom component focuses on teaching advocacy skills and substantive immigration law to equip students to represent immigrants before the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (the immigration courts) and other federal agencies.
The Immigration Clinic is a 4 unit graded course. NO PREREQUISITES ARE REQUIRED. Good Academic Standing only.”
All students accepted in the Immigration Practice Clinic must attend a mandatory 2 ½ day orientation held from Wednesday to Friday before the first day of school.
University of Houston Law Center Clinical Assistant Professor Janet Beck, left, and Immigration Clinic Director Geoffrey Hoffman were honored by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) for their work supervising law students on pro bono cases before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Their awards were presented by CLINIC Advocacy Attorney, Lauren Sullivan, second from right, and CLINIC Executive Director Maria Odom.
The Immigration Clinic also continues to develop and integrate with a legal service network, both in Texas and nationally, that provides our clients with greater expertise, our students with role models and career opportunities, and our faculty with the opportunity to develop and display increased expertise and prominence.
An example of this network is our partnership with the legal aid organization, TexasLawHelp, a project of the Texas Access to Justice Commission and the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.
Click on the following link to TEXAS LAW HELP: www.TexasLawHelp.org