Author: mhewey

HIRC submits comments on proposed expansion of family detention

On November 6, HIRC, along with the HLS Immigration Project (HIP) and the Immigration Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), submitted comments on the Trump administration’s proposal to end the Flores v. Reno settlement, which requires that the government release children from immigration detention without unnecessary delay to their parents or other adults. The Flores agreement has been…
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Crimmigration Clinic submits amicus brief on behalf of immigration law scholars

HIRC’s Crimmigration Clinic, directed by Philip Torrey, recently co-authored an amicus curiae brief with Professor Kari E. Hong of Boston College Law School on behalf of immigration law scholars. The brief was filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of a petition asking the full court to reconsider its prior decision in a…
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Heartbreak at the border: Cindy Zapata on her trip to Karnes Detention Center

There are some memories that remain so vivid in my mind. Some of them are obvious ones, like the day I got married and the day my son was born. Others are not so obvious, like the time my mother made me pay for a 5 dollar chicken shawarma in dimes and nickels. She laughed…
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Student reflections from the border

In August, HLS students Alessandra De La Tejera ’20, Josephine Herman ’20, Evan Hindman ’19, and Andrew Patterson ’20, and HIRC attorneys Sabi Ardalan and Cindy Zapata spent a week in Texas volunteering with RAICES, an organization that offers free and low-cost immigration legal services in Central and South Texas. They worked at the Karnes…
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Withdrawal From DACA Litigation Becomes Key Point In Texas Attorney General Race

“According to Phil Torrey, Managing Attorney of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, the outcome of the Texas Attorney General race may have fatal consequences to the DACA suit since other states may not be willing to put forth the resources necessary to litigate.”

Experimental and Essential: Clinical education at HLS

Clarissa Lehne ’18 and Paulina Arnold ’18 worked in the Crimmigration Clinic on a brief to assist a lawful permanent resident facing deportation for a minor crime. The brief helped win the man his release, and the victory has important implications for other immigrants, says Lehne.

Crimmigration

Harvard Magazine’s profile on Phil Torrey and the Crimmigraiton Clinic.

Why domestic abuse and anti-gay violence qualify as persecution in asylum law

HIRC Assistant Director Sabi Ardalan breaks down the term “particular social group.”

The Trump Administration is Completely Unraveling the U.S. Asylum System

“‘He could be repealing sixty to seventy per cent of asylum jurisprudence,’ Deborah Anker, an immigration expert at Harvard Law School, told me, speaking about Sessions, before the decision was announced. ‘Its ramifications are extraordinary.’”

The Overlooked Legal Challenge to Trump’s Travel Ban

Fatma Marouf, Phil Torrey and Sabi Ardalan on the legal challenges to the Travel Ban.