Immigration Law Clinic Wins Victory for Client

Students working in the UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic have successfully concluded a five-year effort to reinstate permanent legal resident status for a man who had been deported to his native Fiji. 

The man, who had served in the U.S. military, was deported as a result of guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense.  Through five years of litigation, clinic students under the direction of Lecturer Holly Cooper succeeded in bringing him back to the United States, vacating his conviction, and terminating deportation proceedings.  Cooper said numerous students worked on the case over the years, including Erin Hernandez '08, Parisa Ijadi Maghsoodi '10, Kim Le '11, Kishan Barot '11, Parissa Ebrahimzadeh '12, Fatima Alloo '11, Shakira Jones '13, and Ambika Mehta '13.

"Congratulations to the students for their endurance and creativity, and for doing cutting-edge litigation centering on the rights of immigrants in the criminal justice system," said Cooper.