NY Law Schools See New Interest in Immigration Classes, Clinics

Law schools throughout New York are seeing increased demand from students for immigration law classes and clinics to get hands-on experience—all coming amid the Trump administration’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants and wipe out sanctuary city laws.

Buffalo added two new courses in fall 2024 focused on asylum and refugee cases and plans to launch a new immigration clinic. Similar clinics at Columbia and Touro law schools also have seen an uptick in demand, while Hofstra had an increase in applicants to its Deportation Defense Clinic. Partners are fundraising to expand Cornell Law School’s pro bono immigration work in upstate New York’s legal deserts, and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law will launch an immigration law center this fall.

Eight of the 11 New York law schools that responded to inquiries from Bloomberg Law reported increased class sizes, new courses, clinic training, or other opportunities.

“Students are increasingly coming to law school recognizing immigrant rights are tied into human rights and civil rights work and that working on an immigration case can literally save someone’s life depending on the circumstances of the case,” said Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.

Responding to Demand

Touro Law Center launched its Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic in fall 2023 “in direct response to student demand,” and participation shot up from seven to 16 over one semester, said clinic director Mauricio Noroña. The clinic has enlisted help from more than 20 students across the broader law school community who participate in a pro se clinic project. The school’s immigration law class, last offered in fall 2024, had an enrollment of 36 students, and students this past year also launched an Immigration Law Society.

Joshua Stickell, who was president of the Touro Student Bar Association last year, said he saw more students interested in getting involved after Trump won reelection, as well as increased interest in non-immigration programs focused on the constitutional implications of the administration’s actions.

Students “sought opportunities to engage in pro bono work, aiming to mitigate initial panic and assist those in greatest need, even if they couldn’t join the clinic,” said Stickell, now an associate attorney—pending bar admission—at immigration law firm Rivera Julka Law Group.

Demand for Cornell Law School’s pro bono services is “off the charts,” said Beth Lyon, associate dean for experiential education. Since January, the school has launched a new cross-clinic collaboration to provide immigration know-your-rights presentations, family preparedness workshops, pro se asylum application preparation, and legal advice and referrals in the community and in detention centers.

Hofstra University’s Alexander Holtzman said he’s seen an increase in the number of applicants to his Deportation Defense Clinic, which has seen a 40% spike in clients since last year.

Meanwhile, University at Buffalo added two new courses in fall 2024 focused on asylum and refugee cases and communities. Next spring, the school will launch a new immigration clinic in partnership with the Volunteer Lawyers Project, through which immigration attorneys will train students in affirmative and defensive practice—including by representing people being held at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center outside of Buffalo and staffing a help desk in immigration court.

Cardozo has added a new class on asylum and refugee law for the upcoming semester. In mid-September the school will launch a new Center for Immigration Innovation focused on training and facilitating representation in immigration cases.

Amelia Wilson, director of Pace University’s Immigration Justice Clinic, said she had more applications for the fall 2025 clinics than there were open spots available. The clinic had eight students in the spring 2025 semester and will have another eight beginning this fall, and she hopes the school can add a teaching fellow to the clinic.

Wilson said she’s been contacted by “a significant number of students over the past six months” who have said they’d like to be involved in the clinic in some capacity, such as interpreting or volunteering, until enrollment opens up again.

Different Career Paths

Not all students who express interest in immigration law enroll in classes, said Lenni Benson, chair of Immigration and Human Rights Law at New York Law School. She believes that’s often because they have a misconception that the scope of the field is narrow.

“I appreciate the ways that immigration law touches not only individual human rights issues, but investment, employment, family, and criminal law,” said Benson, who also noted that some students put off taking immigration law classes until after they take constitutional law.

Students from other areas of law, especially social justice fields, are seeing how their skills can be used in the immigration space, said Lindsay Nash, co-director of Cardozo’s Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic.

Building fluency in immigration-related issues and understanding how it connects to other constitutional issues, like access to the courts and separation of powers, will put those students in “a good position to identify those issues and jump in those areas regardless of where they land” after school, she added.

The administration’s changing policies and enforcement actions also have increased the stakes for students, Nash said. Understanding the stakes of working on a real case in a clinic has always been a challenge for students learning to be litigators, but it can be even more challenging when the ground “is shifting back and forth under your feet,” she said.

“Working with real people actually shifts perspectives, and they can realize that—even in this system that’s so stacked up against individuals—there are tools, especially in immigration law, that can make a difference,” Noroña said.