Students will interview women asylum seekers detained at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas who have completed their initial credible fear interviews (CFIs) and received a negative CFI finding from immigration officers. Students will help prepare these asylum seekers for the review of their negative CFI findings before an immigration judge. CFI is the first step in the asylum process. Immigrant women detained at the Hutto facility are forced through a rapid CFI procedure, which involves disclosing to a government officer the reasons they are seeking protection in the United States, often without advice or assistance from counsel and without a full understanding of the U.S. asylum process. If the immigration judge does not reverse the negative CFI finding, these women can be deported very quickly to face dangerous conditions in their home country. If the negative CFI finding is reversed, the women are entitled to remain in the U.S. pending full asylum proceedings.
Organization
Texas Law Immigration Clinic
The Immigration Clinic represents vulnerable low-income immigrants from all over the world before the immigration and federal courts and the Department of Homeland Security. The Hutto Credible Fear Appeal Project is being conducted in partnership with American Gateways and the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program.
Project Details
- Project Start Date
January 2018
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 7-14 hours during January through March, including training; students must be available from 12:30pm-6pm on at least one of the following dates: Friday, February 2; Friday, February 16; Friday, March 23; or Friday, March 30
- Training
- Wednesday, January 31, 5:30m-7pm, in TNH 2.137; students who traveled to Hutto on at least one date in Fall 2017 do not need to attend training
- Skills used
- Client interviewing/intake; community education/outreach
- Project location
- T. Don Hutto Immigration Detention Center, Taylor, TX; Mithoff Program will arrange carpools from the law school
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 24
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Languages: Spanish and/or other foreign language skills helpful but not necessary
- To Apply
- Submit an email stating (1) any language skills, (2) all project dates you are available, (3) the number of dates you are willing to travel, (4) whether you are currently enrolled in the Immigration Clinic, and (5) whether you are able to drive a carpool to Sarah Sedgwick at ssedgwick@law.utexas.edu; applicants who speak Spanish and Immigration Clinic students will receive priority consideration for some volunteer openings