Students and faculty from the Immigrant Justice Clinic were joined by volunteer attorneys and advocates at the pro se clinics held in the law school’s moot courtroom.
Immigrant Justice Clinic Holds Pro Se Clinics
This fall, students in Northeastern Law’s Immigrant Justice Clinic (IJC) hosted two pro se clinics for non-citizens. The IJC students, along with attorney volunteers, offered legal advice to more than 40 clients on a variety of matters, including applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), travel authorization and work authorization.
Students worked under the supervision of Professor Anne Georges ’19, who is currently leading the clinic while also serving as an immigration attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, and Keally Cieslik ’19, a staff attorney with Unemployed Workers United, who returned to Northeastern to collaborate on the pro se clinics.
“The IJC students told us that assisting clients through the clinics was a fulfilling experience, allowing them to not only hone their legal skills but also to connect with and educate clients on a variety of important issues in the immigration space,” said Georges, who participated as a student in the IJC when it was launched in 2017.
Also on hand for the clinics were representatives of the Massachusetts TPS Committee, a branch of the National TPS Alliance, and Leslie Ditrani ’94, founder of Pathway for Immigrant Workers. Together, they presented clients with helpful information regarding Temporary Protected Status advocacy, community resources and pathways for immigrant workers.
“Each clinic day was powerful because we brought together community members, Massachusetts TPS Committee leaders and law students to provide both political history and education regarding the origins of TPS and direct legal assistance. Our hope is that the Massachusetts TPS Committee’s strength and membership will grow and families will have more stability as a result of the clinic days,” said Cieslik.
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To ensure public health is not undermined in the courts, Northeastern Law’s Center for Health Policy and Law (CHPL), as part of the Act for Public Health partnership, recently released a report, A Plan for Action: Protecting Public Health in the Courts, that calls for several critical action steps, including research, education and coordination with allies in organizing and drafting amicus briefs in cases with significant public health ramifications.
On the House
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