Published: January 12, 2009 10:25 pm         

Law students operate immigration clinic

It has been said that both professors and students at colleges and universities inhabit an ivory tower that serves to insulate them from the real world problems most people have to deal with, but that is not the case with students at Oklahoma City University School of Law who participate in the Immigration Law Clinic that is operated by that institution.

The clinic is funded by the Inasmuch Foundation, which was established by the late Edith Kinney Gaylord, and works in conjunction with the Immigration Assistance Program of Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City.

According to Margie Solis, the lead attorney for that program, it provides immigration legal services to low-income individuals in western Oklahoma at reduced cost through a staff of four attorneys and several caseworkers. Solis reports that the program provides legal representation to immigrants in a variety of fields with a primary goal of the reunification of families.

The OCU Immigration Law Clinic is under the supervision of Clinical Instructor Christina Misner-Pollard, who received her law degree from Seattle University and was subsequently awarded a graduate law degree from Georgetown University in International Human Rights Law. She explains that law students who have completed several required courses, such as Evidence and Legal Profession, and have the required grade point average can enroll in the clinic course.

They receive five credit hours for the successful completion of the course. The students receive classroom instruction from Misner-Pollard on federal American immigration law, and also are taught practice techniques and how to conduct interviews with clients of a different culture.

The students are placed in two-person teams, and are assigned working hours at the Immigration Assistance Program of Catholic Charities, where they meet with clients who have been found to be eligible for immigration law services. The services are provided without cost to the clients.

The students devote a minimum of 15 hours per week providing those services under the general supervision of Solis and her staff, and also have scheduled meetings with Misner-Pollard, who discusses their cases with them. She reports that her students have represented immigrants in a variety of actions, including the filing of family based visa petitions, applications for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident status and working with clients who are eligible for immigration relief as a result of being abused.

The applications are filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Misner-Pollard long has been concerned with the plight of battered spouses, and says that before she became an instructor, her law practice was involved in the representation of such spouses.

The federal Violence Against Women Act allows battered immigrant spouses and their children to file for permanent residence in the United States apart from the spouse who battered them, and Misner-Pollard says she is pleased that students in her clinic have submitted several well-prepared applications on behalf of battered spouses that are currently pending.

Another federal enactment allows for visas to be issued for crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement, and students at the clinic also have filed several applications for such individuals. Misner-Pollard also points out that no applications filed by students at the clinic have been denied.

Solis said she is pleased with the students and the work they have done through the clinic, and that the students have gained experience in actually working with clients. She also believes that the students have provided a valuable service for people of limited means in Oklahoma. The students themselves report that they have been fortunate to work with and learn from experienced attorneys while assisting people in need.

WILLIAM F. O’BRIEN is an Oklahoma City attorney.

     

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