King Hall Visiting Scholars Program Hosts Chilean Immigration Law Professors for Three-week U.S. Embassy Program

UC Davis School of Law recently hosted two faculty members, Professors Francisco Dellacasa and Tomás Greene, from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, for a special three-week program to learn about U.S. immigration clinics through a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Chile.

Recently, Chile has experienced an increasing influx of immigrants from other Latin American countries and the Caribbean. Professors Dellacasa and Greene lead an important law school immigration clinic at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The U.S. Embassy grant offered the two Chilean faculty members an opportunity to learn about the UC Davis School of Law clinical immigration program and the current state of immigration law in the U.S. while also sharing their experiences and knowledge with UC Davis School of Law faculty members and J.D. students.

Professors Holly Cooper and Amagda Pérez, co-directors of the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic, and Beth Greenwood, associate dean for International Programs, created a program that included presentations on practical aspects of running an immigration clinic such as selecting and handling cases as well as guiding newly emerging student lawyers in this critically important area. In addition to visiting the clinic and receiving presentations from Professors Cooper, Pérez, and Carter White, Professors Dellacasa and Greene visited an Immigration Detention Center with Professor Cooper and observed hearings at the San Francisco Immigration Courts with Professor Pérez and her students.

UC Davis School of Law enjoys a nationwide reputation in immigration scholarship and clinical education. The UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic is one of the oldest in the U.S., and UC Davis law school faculty members are recognized nationally and internationally for their major scholarly contributions in immigration policy and law. Professors Dellacasa and Greene met with Immigration faculty scholars including Dean Kevin Johnson and Professors Leticia Saucedo and Rose Cuison Villazor. As part of their program, the visiting professors also observed immigration clinics at UC Berkeley and Stanford and attended an annual Clinical Education Conference at Stanford.

Professor Dellacasa has found this trip enriching. “It is my hope that Chile will move toward a more transparent immigration policy and process, like parts of the model we see here,” he says.

Professor Greene agrees that changes are needed in Chile. “UC Davis and the University of California care so much about immigration,” he reflects. “The number of faculty dedicated to immigration, the campus- and system-level concern and support for first and second generation immigrants…the commitment to this issue is very concrete and surprising.”

Professor Greene also reflects on his pedagogical experiences during his visit: “The professors here demand a lot more from the students, and the students are more sophisticated as a result.”

“The relationship between students and clinical professor is different here,” Professor Dellacasa observes. “There’s more teamwork, and students are treated as professionals.”

Beth Greenwood, associate dean for International Programs, says UC Davis School of Law is honored to be selected to host this important program. “Because of the quality of our Immigration Law Clinic, our faculty scholarship, and our growing relationship with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,” notes Associate Dean Greenwood, “we’ve all enjoyed a truly rewarding three weeks together. We at UC Davis School of Law look forward to sharing more with our Chilean colleagues in the days and months ahead as all of us continue our work on one of the greatest challenges facing countries across the globe.”

For more information about the LL.M. and other International Law Programs, please visit law.ucdavis.edu/international or contact Concha Romero at llm@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-6081.