Immigration Law Clinics
DBA Legal Services Committee - Immigration Section
Immigration Law Clinics
The Denver Bar Association (DBA) - Immigration sub-committee evolved out of the DBA Legal Services Committee, a group that is organizing a variety of free legal education clinics throughout the Denver-metro area. Membership of the Immigration sub-committee consists of both immigration and non-immigration attorneys who either through their individual practices or pro-bono work are concerned about the underserved legal needs of Denver’s growing immigration population. In response to this need, the Immigration sub-committee is organizing a series of free legal clinics specifically designed to attract and help immigrants. The concept behind the series is to provide legal information on various areas of law that are likely to affect immigrants and provide answers to questions regarding each area of law, as well as general and related immigration questions that will arise. While there are many different immigrant groups in Denver, the Committee has decided to initially focus on English and Spanish-speaking immigrant communities. Once the initial series is up and running, the Immigration sub-committee will then work towards expanding the clinics to serve other immigrant groups.
The series will take place over the course of eight months with a clinic scheduled once a month. Each of the eight clinics will focus on a different legal topic and is scheduled for approximately 2 hours in length. During the first twenty minutes of each clinic, two volunteer attorneys will make an organized presentation. One of the volunteer attorneys will specialize in the designated legal topic and the other, immigration law. Volunteers will be actively recruited through the DBA, the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Hispanic Bar Association, and other legal groups. The remaining time will be dedicated to answering questions of the attendees. For the pilot program, each team of two attorneys will be asked to compile an outline of their presentation, which will then be placed on file and used to organize subsequent immigration clinics. Eventually, the Immigration sub-committee hopes to use the outlines to compile a resource book, which will be distributed to those attending the clinics. As for the clinics themselves, if neither volunteer attorney speaks Spanish, the DBA Legal Services Committee will recruit volunteer interpreters as well. A venue for the clinics has been reserved at Centro de San Juan Diego, located at 2830 Lawrence Street in the Five Points area of Denver. Centro de San Juan Diego already provides numerous services to the needy in the community and the legal clinics will be filling a gap. The clinics are scheduled to begin in early 2005.
The Immigration sub-committee has narrowed down the legal topics as follows:
1) Wage Claims and Employment Clinic – issues regarding employment rights will be addressed (i.e. eligibility for overtime-pay, risk of deportation if employee complaint is made, etc...).
2) Public Benefits Clinic – issues regarding medical benefits will be addressed (i.e. eligibility for medical benefits, whether or not acceptance of food stamps and other services can interfere with immigrant children’s eligibility to medical benefits, etc...).
3) Family Law – issues regarding domestic relations will be addressed (these clinics will be modeled after the family law clinics that are already provided by the DBA Legal Services Committee and may include additional information about the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)).
4) Landlord/Tenant – issues regarding housing rights will be addressed (i.e. when is a landlord obligated make repairs, if rent is paid in cash a receipt must be obtained, all related documents must be organized and kept in a safe place, etc...).
5) Constitutional/Criminal Procedure - issues regarding police procedure and civil rights (i.e. when identification must be/does not have to be shown to the police, what is a proper stop-and-search, effect of other criminal offenses, etc...).
6) Small Business – useful information for small business owners (i.e. incorporation, partnership, limited partnership, tax issues, employee issues, etc...).
7) Education Law – Information regarding the requirements that parents face if they wish to travel abroad with their children, procedures available in education-related proceedings such as truancy and suspension, and access to education.
8) Consumer Rights – Information regarding consumer protections that apply to all consumers, regardless of immigrant status. How not to be a victim of consumer fraud.
Please contact Carolyn Ferber at cferber@cobar.org or 303/860-1115 if you are interested in volunteering for any of the immigration clinics.
