Immigration Clinic Students Succeed in Preventing Deportation of Client
King Hall students Carla Castaneda '13 and Patricija Petrac '13, working under the direction of UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic Supervising Attorney Raha Jorjani, succeeded last week in ending deportation proceedings in the case of a client who is a domestic violence victim and the single mother of a citizen child.
The students succeeded in having the client's removal proceedings closed administratively using a strategy based upon new guidelines for prosecutorial discretion issued by the Department of Homeland Security. Their carefully crafted proposal convinced DHS to support their motion to administratively close removal proceedings, said Jorjani.
Clinic students and staff also assisted the client with finding representation in her divorce and custody proceedings, successfully approaching Eliana Kaimowitz of California Rural Legal Assistance, who agreed to represent the client pro bono. Krystal Jaime, supervising attorney for the UC Davis School of Law Family Protection and Legal Assistance Clinic, and Amagda Pérez, Director of the Immigration Law Clinic, also played in integral role, acting as advisors in the case.