Immigration Clinic develops new pilot programs

USC Law's Immigration Clinic plans to launch several new pilot programs this semester even as it continues to serve a heavy caseload of mostly non-English-speaking immigrants seeking legal aid.

Headed by Professor Niels Frenzen, the clinic is preparing to collaborate with clinical students in the psychology department at USC to begin offering services to immigrants who may be suffering from mental illness. While USC Law's clinic handles very few clients with mental illness, this is a community that has an exceedingly difficult time finding adequate legal aid, Frenzen says.

"There are very few clinics like us that are willing to take on any type of case," he says. "As a result, we're willing to take on cases that don't fit into other organizations' intake criteria. These people are not just underserved but virtually not served at all."

The Immigration Clinic also plans to begin operating a drop-in legal clinic twice a month in Oxnard, Calif., to serve mostly undocumented farmworkers. Developed in part by clinical students Jean Lantz '05 and Rogelio Navar '05, the program will mostly serve as a resource center for migrant workers seeking to learn about their immigration rights and protections. Students in the clinical course will also benefit from working in the field.

"Most USC students have not been exposed to this type of poverty," Frenzen says. "They're going to be exposed to a whole different world."

Meanwhile, the clinic continues its usual work. It scored a recent major victory by obtaining the release of an Iranian man who had been arrested and detained by the U.S. government based upon a visa technicality. The man had been told to report to a local INS office only to be arrested for overstaying his visa, even though he was now married to an American woman.