September 21, 2009 — Coral Gables — The School of Law at the University of Miami has launched an ambitious immigration clinic in which students will represent low-income immigrants in South Florida. Starting this fall semester, eight law students will represent immigrants of all nationalities in court and before immigration authorities and work on projects aimed at systemically improving the lives of immigrants.

“Our goal is for our students to make a lasting contribution to South Florida’s diverse and dynamic immigrant community,” says Assistant Professor Rebecca Sharpless, who previously worked at Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center before joining the law school faculty and who directs the new law school clinic. “We look forward to working together with existing immigrant advocacy organizations.”

Students will be the primary advocates of the clinic’s clients, taking responsibility for cases from start to finish. The clinic will accept cases of low-income immigrants of all nationalities in the full range of immigration matters, including asylum claims and deportation defense of longtime permanent residents. In addition to individual cases, students will collaborate with local and national legal and community organizations on projects that advance the cause of immigrant rights. By increasing opportunities for practical training, the school hopes to increase the marketability of its students.

“This clinic is extremely important in advancing the rights of immigrants and in protecting the rule of law,” says Irwin Stotzky, who teaches and writes in areas of immigration and human rights law and who will be collaborating with Professor Sharpless. “It demonstrates the law school’s unyielding commitment to public service.”

David Abraham, who teaches immigration law and writes about concepts of citizenship, is equally enthusiastic: "With the inauguration of our Immigration Clinic under Becky Sharpless, one of the nation's leading immigrant advocates, UM joins the ranks of Georgetown, Harvard, and Boston University in offering maximum breadth and depth in this growing and exceedingly important field. With Immigration

Court judges like Kenneth Hurewitz and national top-10 practitioners like Ira Kurzban joining accomplished litigators and scholars like Irwin Stotzky, widely published theorists like Kunal Parker, and comparativists like myself, we are becoming a real power in the field. We are all deeply involved in teaching all aspects of the study and practice of immigration, asylum, and citizenship law, and we are all excited to be having Becky join us.”

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