The COVID-19 virus and the resulting shelter-in-place orders may have limited our physical mobility, but the needs of Santa Clara Law’s clinic clients have not stopped, and neither have the clinical students. Throughout Santa Clara Law’s clinics, students continue to support their clients and to work on their behalf, going the extra mile for their clients during these difficult times. Here is a brief description of our continuing work.
The intrepid Immigration Appellate Practice students used their minds and their pens (well, computers, really) to carry on their work for their clients. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit appointed Santa Clara Law as counsel for four individuals seeking judicial review of administrative orders denying their claims for asylum. The facts of the clients’ cases were vastly different, and they came from many parts of the globe – Ukraine, Honduras, Guinea, and Ethiopia. But all shared a common need for safety and for effective legal representation. The students provided that representation by filing an extensive brief in each client’s case, and they will present oral argument before the Ninth Circuit in October 2020. Each brief represented hundreds of hours of work by the students.
It gave us particular comfort that all four of our clients have recently been released from immigration custody. At least they do not have the additional anxiety of facing COVID-19 in crowded detention facilities.
Immigration Appellate Practice Clinic Team working together from home: Jared Renteria, Keuren Parra Morelos, Prof. Abriel.
