In the 2021 fiscal year, a record number of Unaccompanied Minors, approximately 145,000, entered the United States through the U.S.-Mexican border. One form of protection for many of these children is an application for immigration status called Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), which provides a pathway to U.S. citizenship. The SIJS application process is unique in that it requires expertise in immigration law and family law in the state where the child resides. Because of this, representing SIJS applicants is challenging as neither immigration attorneys nor family law attorneys feel competent to represent clients alone. These challenges create an opportunity for law school clinics to partner in representing immigrant youth and allowing law students to learn about both family law and immigration law while also serving immigrant youth communities. Through the lens of SIJS applications, this workshop will discuss the challenges, opportunities, and some practical steps that attendees should be prepared for when engaging in collaborative clinical practices.
This session will begin with an overview of SIJS, and how its intersectional nature creates legal and practical challenges for clinicians and students. It will then discuss ways in which law school clinics can develop successful collaborative programing. Topics will include how to identify cases and the roles which family law clinics and immigration clinics can play to help each other, their students, and the community. A key element will focus on law student and pro bono involvement as well as outreach and coordination with community organizations.
Remaining time will be used in breakout rooms using 10-minute sessions with rotations in the following categories:
• Collaboration between clinics
• Ethical issues with cross clinic collaboration
• Creative ways to get pro bono attorneys involved with
cross clinic collaboration
• Other areas of law where cross clinic collaboration is
beneficial to students and the local community