Immigration Clinic

In this clinic, students will develop lawyering skills related to immigration law and immigrants’ rights matters. Students represent low-income immigrants in cases relating to immigration status as well as non-profit organizations on issues related to immigrants’ rights. Students work directly with clients, representing individuals fleeing persecution, those facing deportation, and some who have been the targets of abusive enforcement practices. Students may advocate before the Department of Homeland Security, the Baltimore Immigration Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals or in the federal courts, or in administrative proceedings. Clients may, in some cases, be detained by DHS. In addition, students work on the clinic’s Access to Justice projects, which involves non-litigation projects in the area of immigrants’ rights. All work is supervised directly by clinic faculty.

Students have extensive client contact and build professional and collaboration skills in a litigation and policy/advocacy setting, including: learning immigration law and foundational lawyering skills in the context of practice; exploring issues of professional responsibility in client representation; the role of the attorney in providing access to the justice system; as well as strategizing on issues of US immigration policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Every week, students will have one seminar-style class, including a class-wide meeting to workshop cases. In addition, students will meet weekly with clinic faculty to discuss their ongoing client matters. Students’ grades will be based on the quality of their work, their professionalism (e.g., attention to ethical responsibilities; communication with and commitment to supervisors, colleagues, and clients; and compliance with deadlines); effort; improvement; initiative and resourcefulness; and willingness and ability to collaborate with their colleagues.

This clinic will be offered in fall 2026 and spring 2027 as a one-semester clinic for six credits. All students enrolled in fall clinic will be required to attend in-person clinic orientation on Friday, August 21, 2026, and those enrolled in spring clinic will be required to attend in-person clinic orientation on Friday, January 8, 2027, in addition to any clinic-specific orientation that the professor may schedule.

Prerequisite or co-requisite: Immigration Law.