Immigration Law Clinic Wins Asylum for Immigrant Family

In a major victory for the UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic (ILC), Lizzette Gomez '17 and Stephanie Medina '17 were able to secure a favorable grant of asylum for a mother and her four sons who had fled their home country after receiving multiple death threats from a powerful gang.  The Immigration Judge found that the clinic clients were statutorily eligible for asylum and granted them relief from removal in an exercise of discretion.

The case came to the ILC in 2014 when Bianca Dueñas '16 did an initial intake of the family. Dueñas and Eduardo Ramirez Castro '17 initially represented the mother and her sons, and Stephanie Padilla '16 and David Canela '16 represented the oldest daughter, who was not placed in removal proceedings with her family.  This year, the mother and her sons were represented by Gomez and Medina, and the oldest daughter was represented by Stephanie Hay '17.  The team filed motions to consolidate the cases, prepared a pre-hearing brief, put together almost 300 pages of supporting documentation, and filed various motions.  After almost two years of living in fear of being sent back to their native country, the family was granted asylum.

Amagda Pérez '91, Supervising Attorney with the ILC, said that thanks were due to James Smith, Clinical Faculty Emeritus and founder of the ILC,  for serving as country conditions expert, ILC alumna Sarah Farnsworth Torres '07 for serving as our mock hearing judge, ILC alumnae Christina Lee '03 and Joye Wiley '07 for their practical advice,  and the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies for their technical assistance and support.

"This case was as compelling as it was challenging and labor intensive, but the entire team zealously advocated for their clients at every stage of the proceedings and were able to obtain this victory for their clients," said Pérez. "I was very proud and privileged to have worked alongside this incredible team of immigration advocates."