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Akron Law offers free immigration training to attorneys
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: July 19, 2018
With two major raids in Ohio by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the massive influx of immigrants seeking asylum at the border, the need for pro bono representation for detained immigrants in Ohio is quickly skyrocketing.
To help meet the demand, The University of Akron School of Law is holding a full-day training session on Aug. 1 designed to teach attorneys who don’t practice immigration law how to represent clients in need of immigration services.
Elizabeth Knowles, assistant clinical professor of law and director of Akron Law’s Immigration & Human Rights Law Clinic, is organizing the event, which is free to any attorney who commits to providing pro bono representation for one or more individuals detained at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC) in Youngstown within two months of the training date.
“The Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown is bursting at the seams with individuals who need representation,” said Knowles, an immigration attorney. “Many of them were transported to Ohio from various locations along the southern border after seeking admission to the U.S. and expressing fear of returning to their home countries.
“They were then brought to CoreCivic in Youngstown, a private prison contracted by ICE to detain non-citizens, and are being held there as they go through the credible or reasonable fear interview process and then removal proceedings via televideo at the federal immigration court in Cleveland.
“Others were arrested during the Corso and Fresh Mark raids and many of them may be bond eligible.”
The Fresh Mark raid took place on June 19, when ICE agents showed up at several of the Massillon, Ohio-based meat supplier’s facilities. Agents arrested 146 workers at the company’s Salem location on suspicion of using stolen or fraudulent identification to gain employment.
Agents also collected documents at Fresh Mark’s Canton and Massillon facilities.
Two weeks earlier ICE agents arrested 114 workers suspected of being in the country illegally at the Sandusky and Castalia locations of Corso’s Flower and Garden Center.
“We know that there are many lawyers who want to help but don’t know how,” said Knowles. “Akron Law’s Immigration & Human Rights Law Clinic trains law students to provide direct representation to those seeking asylum as well as to provide know-your-rights presentations to individuals detained in ICE custody at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center and the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office, a county jail contracted by ICE to detain male and female non-citizens.
“Within a semester, clinic students litigate an asylum case from A to Z and learn court procedure, case law and best practices,” said Knowles, who supervises the students. “In cases where clients are eligible for bond hearings, students represent them in bond proceedings as well.”
Akron Law Dean Christopher J. Peters said the school’s immigration & human rights clinic is unable to fill the ever-growing need for representation. He said providing training to attorneys is a way for the law school to continue to do its part to assist the community and uphold the rule of law.
“Most immigrants who are arrested and detained cannot afford to pay for an attorney and need pro bono representation,” said Peters. “The immigration clinic at Akron Law focuses primarily on asylum cases and we have limited capacity to take on new cases, particularly during the summer months.
“We are offering this training so that licensed attorneys who are not already familiar with the immigration system can provide much-needed representation to some of these individuals.”
The immigration training will take place on Aug. 1 in the David and Ann Amer Brennan Courtroom on the first floor of the law school. It begins at 8 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. A complimentary breakfast and lunch will be provided to participants.
Presenters include Knowles, Akron immigration attorney Farhad Sethna, Tania Nemer, a senior immigration attorney at Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland and International Institute of Akron immigration and human rights attorney Brian Hoffman.
“We are seeking to award up to 6.5 hours of CLE credit,” said Knowles. “In exchange for the free training and CLE credit, attorneys must promise to take on either a full removal case or two bond cases pro bono.”
Attorneys who cannot commit to pro bono representation can still attend the seminar at a cost of $250.
Anyone interested is asked to fill out the registration form located on the law school’s website https://www.uakron.edu/law/docs/representing-immigrants-event-2018.pdf.
For more information, email Elizabeth Knowles at eknowles@uakron.edu.