The Hofstra Law Deportation Defense Clinic (DDC) is busier than ever advocating for human, civil, and constitutional rights for immigrant communities on Long Island and in New York, and providing full defense services for clients most at risk of deportation, including victims of trafficking or crime.
Fulfilling a duty to help others, Cynthia Madrid 3L, started as a clinic intern in the DDC last year, and has continued on with Director and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law Alexander Holtzman as his research assistant.
“As a first-generation American, I grew up surrounded by a diverse group of people, and I started to see a lot if inequity,” said Madrid. “I realized that if you are given a position to help others, you should do something with that opportunity – and the work done in the DDC is the last defense for people seeking help in a stressful situation.”
DDC Students Provide Real-World Help for Immigrants
Clinic students litigate in immigration court, advocate with administrative agencies such as ICE and USCIS, and bring appellate litigation before the Board of Immigration Appeals and in Federal Court. The clinic also challenges policies and practices that harm the immigrant community in the region.
“The main case I worked on involved a T visa, which is offered to people who have been trafficked, either through labor or sex trafficking” Madrid shared. “We would meet with the client to determine if they met the required elements to get approved for the visa, and provide assistance on their application process – it is usually a 2 year wait to get the visa.”
A Life-Changing Experiential Opportunity
Gianna Amore ’24 also worked in the DDC on a similar case for a T visa for a woman from El Salvador and her two children. “Our client was a survivor of sex and labor trafficking, and she hadn’t seen her children in over 10 years,” Amore said.
“We had several meetings with the client to get the details of her story and her trafficking experience to write an affidavit so that she would qualify for the visa,” Amore said. “It was difficult at first because we had to establish a relationship so she could trust us and feel safe enough to tell us her story. For a lot of our clients, it is traumatic for them to retell the story.”
“To qualify for the visa, you have to report your trafficking to law enforcement, which can also be stressful for the client if they are undocumented,” Amore continued. “We guided the client through the process so she felt safe.” After about 18 months, the T visa was approved.
Although she hadn’t seen her T visa client since the spring of 2023, Amore was invited to attend a reunion between the client and her two children at LaGuardia airport in January of this year.
“To see a case from beginning to end – from creating a trust relationship, to getting the visa, to the family being reunited – is an experience you don’t always get because the clinic only lasts for a semester,” said Amore. “It was an incredible and emotional experience that I will never forget, especially since the client hadn’t seen those two children in over 10 years. I was happy to be a part of their story.”
Students Volunteer to Assist One Another
While Madrid was working with another client earlier this semester, a family came to the Deportation Defense Clinic with an urgent need for help with an asylum application due to an impending meeting with ICE.
Elizabeth Mauter 3L, a student in the Law Reform Advocacy Clinic, joined Madrid at Professor Holtzman’s request to help with the emergency application. Mauter was working on a habeas case for the Law Reform Advocacy Clinic involving a Guantanamo detainee with medical needs, but she jumped in to assist Madrid with the T visa application, in part due to her ability to speak Spanish. “I have family who have gone through similar circumstances, so this client’s story affected me on a personal level,” she said. “The family was in fear, and I was happy to help even though I had never done anything like this before.”
“We were able to complete the applications within a few hours,” Madrid reported. “Once the application was done, then another attorney could move on with filing motions the client needed.”
The clinic is seeing increased interest in their services due to frequent discussions of immigration policies in current events. “The situation is changing daily, and we are trying to stay up to date with the news.”
Benefits of Clinic Experience
Clinic work not only provides students with experience and legal skills, but it enhances the interpersonal and social skills necessary to succeed in the field.
“You hear that clinic experience is the best part of law school, and I wholeheartedly agree,” Mauter said. “Everything you have learned in the classroom you can now put into practice, and I’m taking in all I can from my clinic experience as I am preparing to graduate.”
Amore agreed: “It is a unique experience you can’t get at internships or jobs. You have a lot of freedom to make decisions and meet and communicate with clients, but you also get a lot of supervision about how to deal with your caseload, and the next steps to take. I would recommend the clinic to anyone who wants to have an experience that is the closest you can get to being an actual lawyer.”
She added, “Professor Holtzman was incredible to learn from. He is an incredible advocate for immigrants and immigration law generally, and his guidance at clinic is unmatched.”
Taking Clinic Experience Beyond Law School
After graduation, Amore began working for the Administration for Children’s Services in Queens doing child protection work. “The DDC taught me many skills I use in my professional career now, including how to work with clients and approach cases with sensitivity and professionalism,” she said. Her experiences at Hofstra Law prepared her for the complexities of individual cases, and how to cope with “vicarious trauma.” Discussions in the clinic seminar about mental health in trauma-related fields taught her the skills to develop healthy boundaries with the work.
Madrid is also looking forward to translating the skills learned through her clinic experience at her new position with Cullen and Dykman LLP. She graduates in May 2025.
Mauter will be working at the Kings County District Attorney’s office. “I am excited to finally be an attorney after wanting this since I was younger,” she said. “I want to make the justice system a little more just, and I am hoping to be in the special victim’s unit.”
Ultimately, of her experience with volunteering when her classmates and clients needed her, Mauter concluded: “The clinic helped me empathize with others – to put myself in their shoes to create the best argument and the best case. Not only are you gaining experience, but you are helping others and the community.”
