Top Law Schools Offering Immigrant Defense Training
Several prestigious law schools in the United States are intentionally incorporating training for defending undocumented immigrants into their programs. Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and others have established clinics and workshops where students provide legal representation for immigrants, assist with incomprehensible paperwork, and contribute to delaying actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Many law schools mandate student participation in these clinics as part of their curriculum. The American Bar Association (ABA), the sole accreditor for law schools in the U.S., requires students to complete experiential learning hours, encompassing work done in law clinics. Additionally, the ABA encourages pro bono work, which aligns neatly with the objectives of these clinics.
At the University of Chicago Law School, ranked fourth nationally, the “Immigrants’ Rights Clinic” offers legal support to immigrant communities both in Chicago and across the nation. The clinic’s website states that students help develop legal claims and defenses for immigrants facing removal proceedings, engage in legislative advocacy at various levels, and provide assistance to organizations focused on immigrants’ rights.
The clinic boasts several notable accomplishments, including advocating for a Tunisian national detained post-September 11, preventing certain individuals from being turned over to ICE, and working for the release of a man alleged to have ties to ISIS, as detailed on the law school’s website.
Columbia University features a similar clinic, where students offer pro bono legal services to asylum seekers. According to that clinic’s site, many asylum seekers struggle with the complexities of the immigration system, often in a language they don’t comprehend. Under faculty guidance, student attorneys represent asylum seekers facing deportation and may tackle increasingly complex cases if they remain involved for more than one semester.
Meanwhile, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law has established a dedicated immigration center, aspiring to lead in immigration law and policy. In addition to a clinic focusing on immigrants’ rights, UCLA encourages students to analyze U.S. immigration policy through a racial lens. The center’s website notes that historically, U.S. immigration enforcement has disproportionately favored Europeans while marginalizing non-white immigrants.
Other law schools also house programs with similar objectives, many collaborating with pro-immigration and anti-ICE activist groups. The Daily Caller News Foundation’s assessment reveals that virtually every law school in the top ten U.S. rankings includes clinics that advocate for undocumented immigrants, often allowing students to take charge in deportation cases.
The University of Virginia, for instance, runs the Immigration Law Clinic, and New York University has its Immigrant Rights Clinic. Yale has a “Legal Assistance: Immigrant Rights Clinic,” while Harvard offers an “Immigration and Refugee Clinic” and another initiative called the “Crimmigration Clinic,” which explores the intersection of criminal and immigration law.
These law schools are also involved in broader activism beyond direct legal representation. For example, the University of North Dakota recently held a training event for students on how to act as “legal observers” during ICE activities. Stanford Law School even produces blog posts arguing against the Trump administration’s immigration policies, alongside maintaining its clinic for undocumented individuals.
At the University of California, Berkeley, the “Human Rights” clinic has previously organized workshops for over 300 non-U.S. citizen students, helping connect them with pro bono attorneys. The program has seen many students successfully apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows certain undocumented youth to secure a temporary stay on deportation and obtain work permits. The Legal Services Program has supported numerous students at Cal, establishing a framework for providing immigration legal services to undocumented students at colleges.
