Immigration Clinic Students Win Victory for Refugee Client

Immigration Law Clinic students Rachel Ray '11, Elica Vafaie '11, and Jihan Kahssay '12, working under the direction of Professor Holly Cooper, the clinic's supervising attorney, achieved a major victory last week on behalf of a refugee client whose case had been used for national advocacy against detaining unadjusted refugees indefinitely without bond.

The client had been held for more than two years in a remote detention facility in Eloy, Arizona until the students obtained and paid a bond for him utilizing the Clinic Bond Fund, which was established last year to aid indigent clients. The case was transferred to San  Francisco Immigration Court and the students drafted a motion to terminate deportation proceedings that was granted by the immigration judge on November 16.

Professor Cooper said that the client was extremely grateful to the Immigration Clinic and the School of Law, and that in addition to Ray, Vafaie, and Kahssay, thanks were due to Su Yon Yi '11, Jocelyn Wolf '11, and Ariel Brown '11, who provided assistance on the case.