Immigration Law Clinic Wins in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In a successful conclusion to more than eight years of litigation, students in the UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic won a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of a client who feared deportation to her native country would endanger her life as a result of her service as an informant for the United States against high-level drug traffickers there. The court ruled on June 4 that the Board of Immigration Appeals failed to properly analyze her case and remanded it to the BIA for reconsideration of her eligibility for relief from removal.
The case has a long and rich history, explained Holly Cooper, staff attorney for the Immigration Clinic. Students including Dong Zee '08, Hoa Hoang '08, Tanya Paulson Tambling '08, Cassandra Lopez '08, Raymond Kim '07, and Wajahat Ali '07 worked to secure the client's liberty from immigration detention years ago through a federal writ of habeas corpus. Tambling, Chad Greeson '07, Victoria Hassid '10, Monica Feltz '10, David King '07, Erin Hernandez '07, and Parisa Ijadi Maghsoodi '10 worked on her briefing both at the BIA and Ninth Circuit throughout the years. Most recently, Charlene Chen '13, assisted by Melanie Young '13 and Christine Meeuwsen '14, presented the oral argument before the Ninth Circuit that resulted in the remand.
Cooper said that thanks were due to many individuals who helped with the case over the years, including Professor Andrea Bjorklund, Civil Rights Clinic Supervising Attorney Carter "Cappy" White, Immigration Law Clinic Director Amagda Pérez, Immigration Law Clinic Staff Attorney Raha Jorjani, the clinic's founding Director James Smith, Asian Law Caucus Staff Attorney Anoop Prasad, Director of the Immigrant Rights Project at the ACLU Cecilia Wang, Chris Todd '98, Scott Grzenczyk '11, Civil Rights Clinic Office Manager Rachel Taylor, Immigration Law Clinic Office Manager Teresa Medina, Prison Law Clinic Office Manager Martha Jaime, Meline Mailyan '13, and Robert Semones '13.