Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic

The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic (HIRC) is a collaborative project between Harvard Law School and Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) which is housed at GBLS. Deborah Anker is the Director of HIRC and a Clinical Professor of Law. The Clinic is staffed by the experienced attorneys of GBLS' Immigration Unit. The downtown GBLS offices provide students access to the firm's extensive knowledge base and resources, and provides a vibrant legal services environment for students undertaking clinical work.

The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic involves students in the direct representation of victims of human rights abuses in applying for U.S. refugee and related protections; some cases also involve family reunification and avoidance of forced removal in immigration proceedings. Students have the experience of fully developing an asylum claim, often following the case from start to finish. They engage in extensive interviewing of clients, preparing factual affidavits, expert witness affidavits and testimony, investigation and evidence gathering, compilation and analysis of human rights / country-condition information and preparation of legal briefs. Many students work intensively on one or two cases. Depending upon the number of credit hours, students may have different experiences including administrative hearings, federal court and administrative appellate brief writing, and regulatory reform and advocacy. The Women Refugees Project, an internationally recognized program, does groundbreaking work on women's international human rights and political asylum claims. Students may be involved in the development of position papers and innovative legal theories for amicus briefs in connection with political asylum claims filed around the country and, in some instances, before international tribunals.

Clinical Information

Fall or Spring clinical
Open to 2L, 3L students
LLM students by permission
Pre-Requisites: None

Clinical Courses

Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Seminar A
Instructors: Matthew Muller
Fall seminar; Fall clinical

Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Seminar B
Instructors: Debbie Anker
Spring seminar; Spring clinical

Contact

Pound Hall 408
Harvard Law School
(617) 495-5912
HIRC@law.harvard.edu