Hofstra Announces New Deportation Defense Clinic

Hofstra University announced Wednesday that it is creating a new Deportation Defense Clinic to help protect immigrant Long Islanders who could be facing deportation.

The clinic, which Hofstra says is the first of its kind on Long Island, would focus on two high-risk groups: immigrants with removal orders against them and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, which are undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children and have spent most of their lives here.

“Our law school has long history of representing immigrants through our nationally recognized clinical programs, and this new clinic deepens our commitment to this community, as well as to the values of civic engagement, diversity and tolerance that are at the heart of Hofstra’s mission,” Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz said.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that there are 99,000 undocumented immigrants living on Long Island. Many of them could face deportation under the stricter policies of the Trump administration.

Hofstra expects to open the clinic in the spring, after it is able to hire one senior and one junior attorney.

The school expects to enroll about 20 law students in the clinic, who will work under the two attorneys. They will learn about client representation and community advocacy while providing invaluable services to immigrants in need.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to gain meaningful legal experience and make a significant impact in our community,” Judge A. Gail Prudenti, the law school's interim dean, said. “The Deportation Defense Clinic also fills a critical and immediate need on Long Island.”

This will not be the first immigrant legal clinic that Hofstra opens. The school already has three others: an Asylum Clinic that represents immigrants fleeing torture or other persecution; a Youth Advocacy Clinic to assist immigrant minors suffering abuse, neglect or abandonment; and an Immigration Clinical Practicum, which works on a variety of immigration law issues, often in partnership with the Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead.

“Since the presidential election we have experienced a significant increase in calls to represent clients on immigration-related matters,” said Professor Theo Liebmann, director of clinical programs at Hofstra Law. “We have a unique opportunity, and a moral duty, to stand by our immigrant neighbors not just with words, but with action.”

Photo: Patch