Deferred Action for Immigrant Workers Mini-Clinic

This one-unit course offers students an opportunity to provide legal assistance to immigrant workers eligible for a form of temporary protection from deportation (“deferred action”) and work authorization based on their involvement in an investigation of workplace violations.  After a week of training, law students will staff a week-long series of workshops in downtown L.A. organized in partnership with a local worker center and legal service provider.  The workshop will provide screenings, advice and counseling, and pro se assistance to immigrant workers who have been witnesses or victims in a labor dispute that is under investigation by a government agency. By organizing the workshop with community partners, participants will be recruited and pre-screened to focus on workers who have already received the “statement of interest” from a government agency that makes them eligible for the new deferred action program. The goals of the course are twofold: (1) to provide law students with experience in immigration screenings, advice and counseling, and preparing immigration forms; and (2) to provide urgently-needed legal services to immigrant workers in our community who qualify for an important new form of protection from deportation and a temporary work permit.