Immigration Law

Immigration practice has assumed an increasing role in the work of the clinic. Interns work primarily in the areas of asylum, removal defense, and family-based immigration. Perhaps the most rewarding of the work is in securing protection for foreign nationals from human rights violations in their home countries. These cases constitute about half of the immigration practice caseload. The clinic has represented hundreds of clients, including dozens of people and their families seeking protection through asylum, withholding of removal, and/or the Convention Against Torture. Some of the clients have used the affirmative application process in which they apply for relief to the Chicago Asylum office of the INS. Other clients have sought relief from the Immigration Court. Of the cases that have been completed, every client has been granted relief.

Clinic clients seeking protection have come from the following countries:

• Ethiopia
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Sierra Leone
• Congo Republic
• Senegal
• Somalia
• Angola
• Kenya
• Uganda
• Nigeria
• Mauritania
• Liberia
• Sudan
• Vietnam
• Laos
• Iraq
• Pakistan
• India
• Uzbekistan