By Gwyneth K. Shaw
Shortly after the November 2024 election, Berkeley Law alumni who defend undocumented immigrants approached Criminal Law & Justice Center (CLJC) Executive Director Chesa Boudin about building a way for the law school to respond to the expected increase in detentions. President Donald Trump campaigned heavily on a platform of mass deportations, and they knew an upheaval was coming to an already overburdened system.
Within months — in time for the fall 2025 semester, a lightning-quick timetable — the Immigration Liberation Practicum was born. Sophia Wang was hired as its supervising attorney, and after what she calls unprecedented interest from students, 10 were selected for the first semester. Seven are continuing this spring.
“Law school is where legal theory meets lived reality, and the Immigration Liberation Practicum is a powerful example of that,” Boudin says. “Our students aren’t just learning how to be lawyers — they’re doing the work of lawyers, right now, for people whose lives and families depend on it. The impact has been so significant that a local private foundation just committed $250,000 a year for the next three years to support the project — a validation of both the urgent need and the quality of work our students and attorneys are delivering.
“I’m proud that the Criminal Law & Justice Center was able to move quickly to meet this moment, and deeply grateful that we now have the resources to sustain it.”
The project, which offers legal representation to immigrants in federal detention, fits perfectly into CLJC’s work at the intersection of immigration detention and the criminal justice system, Wang says.
“Legally, immigration detention is supposed to be distinct from criminal incarceration. But the reality is that immigration detention looks just like a criminal jail or prison, if not worse,” she says. “We’re really grateful that Chesa is willing to host this work at CLJC and that the Berkeley Law administration got behind this so quickly.”
The group immediately got to work, partnering with local immigration rights activists to connect with people who had been detained. Quickly, they realized that habeas corpus petitions were the best, and perhaps only, route to getting their clients released.
Sandhya Nadadur ’24, in her second year in the CLJC’s postgraduate Larsen Justice Fellowship Program, had previously worked on deportation defense cases and joined Wang to support the practicum. She says that it is much more challenging for immigrants to assert their rights and fight their immigration cases from detention. They’re isolated from their community, held in remote facilities, and pressured to give up their cases.
“It was pretty clear right away that habeas is the only vehicle available for people to get out of detention,” Nadadur says. “While I’m sad this work is available now because of what the administration is doing, it’s also a really powerful moment to use this tool.”
In just the first semester, the practicum helped three immigrants win their release from detention, secured an order to prevent the arrest and re-detention of a long-time Bay Area resident, and garnered the right for an asylum-seeker to have a bond hearing to challenge his detention after he had been waiting over a year in detention for his case to be heard by an immigration judge.
These cases are frequently cited in other immigration proceedings — an indication of the practicum’s impact, Boudin says.
Challenging on multiple fronts
Across the country, the task of aiding detainees is overwhelming and complicated. Even a successful habeas petition, Nadadur notes, is only one piece of the puzzle.
“It’s a vehicle to get you the opportunity to get out, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee release,” she says. “And now, since the Trump Administration is detaining people at a much higher volume than they’ve ever done before, there’s a whole new challenge just to get to a place where you were before the administration came into power.
“Sometimes it’s tough to think about habeas as just giving someone a chance to make their immigration case, but it is increasingly necessary.”
Another challenge, Wang adds, is the sheer number of people being caught up in the immigration system compared to the resources available to aid them.
“We get so many requests for individuals who need legal representation that we cannot help,” she says. “It’s really heartbreaking to have to turn people down. Plus, we’re focused on the detention piece, and that’s just a small part, because for someone to have the best chance of both getting out and winning their immigration case so they can stay in the country, they would also need immigration counsel, which is in such high demand.”
Students say it’s been a formative experience with tremendous benefits to their budding legal careers.
“I joined the practicum because I was tired of feeling helpless during these hard times and I wanted to put my time and energy into something positive,” 3L Ami Santillan says. “Not only do I feel like I am making a difference, but I am also learning practical legal skills. I have expanded my legal research abilities, sharpened my persuasive writing, and developed meaningful communication skills while working directly with clients.”
Her most memorable experience was seeing a client released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody — in time to be there for the birth of his child the following week.
“I will never forget the moment when we were informed that our client was released,” Santillan says. “Relief, joy, and empowerment.”
2L Nidia Corona Gonzalez says the practicum has been formative in her development as an advocate in “crimmigration,” the intersection between immigration and the criminal legal system. The combination of hands-on experience — including research, tracking litigation, doing client interviews, and reviewing court records — and learning from experienced practitioners in the seminar portion of the course “has made me feel more confident pursuing roles in removal defense and impact litigation that once felt out of reach.”
“It has been inspiring to be part of a new practicum at Berkeley Law that is responding in real time to urgent gaps in immigration defense,” Corona Gonzalez says. “At a time when habeas petitions are increasingly becoming the only avenue for detained noncitizens to advocate for their freedom, the practicum facilitates thoughtful, creative, and strategic advocacy. Being part of that effort has reinforced my commitment to this work.”
Building national cooperation
Wang and Nadadur’s unflagging support has been a big part of the practicum’s success, she says.
“We are encouraged to take ownership of our cases — from issue-spotting to developing creative legal arguments — which has strengthened my confidence as an advocate,” Corona Gonzalez says. “The instructors are also supportive of students’ professional development, connecting us with practitioners in the field and being intentional about assigning work that aligns with our long-term goals.”
2L Deksyos Million Damtew, who was born in Ethiopia, joined the practicum because he believes we all have a duty to step up for immigrant communities.
“As a law student and an Ethiopian American, I wanted to use my lived experience and the lessons I’ve learned in law school to stand in solidarity with people in immigration detention,” he says.
He also praised Wang and Nadadur, particularly for their efforts to connect with national leaders to ask where they needed support.
“I’m committed to practicing civil rights law in the South. As a part of the practicum, I collaborated with organizations dedicated to addressing growing concerns about immigration detention in the South,” Damtew says. “This experience helped me develop concrete skills in writing habeas petitions and provided me with a practical example of connected struggles for liberation that I will continue to explore throughout my career.”
That outreach is paying off, Wang says, with a national network emerging to share strategies and adaptations to the rapidly changing legal landscape. Across the country, advocates — including law school alums — are sharing briefs and advice and collaborating on strategy in a way that’s inspired her.
“Even in California, where there’s so many nonprofits and so many resources relative to other parts of the country, it’s still not enough, and we are grateful that the school and CLJC can contribute these resources. But it’s a drop in the bucket,” Wang says. “At the same time, the advocacy community has been huge. And our clients’ resilience and spirit is really remarkable. They put so much trust in us and we can see how they’ve been working together to keep the spirit alive, keep hope alive, and to look out for each other, advocate for one another, helping people who don’t have attorneys file cases themselves, and to speak up for their rights.
“We’re finding there’s a ripple effect. When we’re working with someone, they feel more empowered to share the knowledge they’re learning from their case and advocate for other people and be a leader within the community they have inside.”