Short-Term Detention Center Representation: Practice & Policy LAW 997

Course Number: LAW 997

Course Credits: 2

This course, an intensive fieldwork experience, prepares students to work intensively for a week (plus two travel days) providing short-term, limited-purpose representation at an immigrant detention center, and then to reflect on and analyze what they have learned from the experience, concluding with a public presentation at the Law School. By the end of this course, students will have developed a deep and rich understanding of current U.S immigration enforcement policies and the theoretical legal rights of immigrants, especially those seeking various forms of humanitarian relief, and the overlap and conflicts between the federal statutory and regulatory scheme and international human rights law. Students will learn how to assess and address the unique legal needs of detained immigrant youth and adults through direct representation, and will develop and refine enhanced oral and written communication skills in informal and formal settings, especially empathic listening, interviewing, counseling, collaboration, and oral and written advocacy. Each participant will also observe and intellectually analyze his/her/their own professional identity formation with respect to key lawyering competencies.

Permission of the instructor is required to enroll. To participate in this course, each student must be authorized to enter a federal immigration detention center, and therefore must pass a federal background check. Prospective students must complete a separate application (available at John Jay Legal Services Office, Preston 404, and due by January 22). The application, and a much more detailed description of the course and its requirements, are available on the TWEN page “Short-Term Detention Center Representation: Practice & Policy". Please review the full description before applying.

Prerequisites: Evidence and Professional Responsibility