Places of LIJC
From El Paso, Texas to Guadalajara, Mexico
Guadalajara, Mexico
Guadalajara is a location well-known by immigrants as the midway point on their journey from the southern Mexican border to the southern US border.
In 2019, Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic (LIJC) Director Marissa Montes '12 was invited to teach a Comparative Immigration Law class at Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), a Jesuit University in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The initiative included the opportunity for three LIJC students to join Director Montes in a one-week intensive program providing free legal consultations and hosting know your rights presentations. Students also trained staff at two local non-profits, FM4 Paso Libre, the largest shelter for migrants in transit in Guadalajara, and Guadalajara Sur, a shelter centered around deported homies, on the rights of immigrants as they approach the U.S.-Mexico border.
Immigration Law and the Border Practicum
El Paso, Texas
This LLS course exposes seven students each spring break to immigration issues that transcend the U.S.-Mexico border. Enrolled students are required to attend a one-week intensive trip to El Paso, where they are introduced to policy and current legal issues while developing practical skills in client representation. Students also engage in a variety of activities that include visits to the border, ICE detention centers and the Executive Office of Immigration. Working closely with United Neighborhood Organization (UNO), a local nonprofit, they conduct consultations, undertake legal research, and make in-court appearances on behalf of migrants facing removal from the United States.