Law Schedule of Classes

NOTE: Course offerings change. Classes offered this semester may not be offered in future semesters.

Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.


288.4 sec. 001 - Asylum/Refugee Law and Process (Spring 2022)

Instructor: Kyra Maura Sanin Lilien  (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
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Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person

Meeting:

W 6:25 PM - 9:05 PM
Location: Law 134
From January 12, 2022
To April 22, 2022

Course Start: January 12, 2022
Course End: April 22, 2022
Class Number: 32103

Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 12
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 20
As of: 07/19 11:58 AM


This course will explore US refugee and asylum law and process, beginning with its roots in the UN Refugee Convention and passage of the 1980 Refugee Act and continuing through current executive orders and Attorney General opinions affecting asylum and refugee admission.

By the semester's end, students will understand the legal requirements for asylum and refugee status in the US, having applied them to various real-world scenarios. Students will also gain deeper insight into the impact of recent changes to refugee and asylum policy in the US.

The course will employ case hypotheticals and simulations to highlight various topics in refugee protection, including unaccompanied minors, gender and LGBTI-based claims, and the tension between meeting international obligations to refugees while ensuring national security and addressing transnational crime.

This course is essential for students interested in asylum representation, as well as for those interested in refugee rights, human rights, immigration law, and public international law.

Students will complete a take-home midterm, consisting of a draft brief on asylum eligibility for a hypothetical case. Students will then build on this initial case work through a moot court hearing and, as a final paper, a full legal brief supporting or opposing asylum eligibility. As this is an applied learning course, class participation is essential, and it will count toward the final grade.

Kyra S. Lilien is the Director of the Immigration Legal Services program at Jewish Family & Community Services - East Bay. Previously, Kyra served as Staff Attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where she analyzed immigration-related petitions for review. Kyra has also worked as an Asylum Officer at the USCIS Asylum Office in San Francisco where she adjudicated asylum applications and trained new asylum officers. Kyra practiced immigration law for several years before joining the Asylum Office, most recently at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, where she served as Immigration Program Director.

Requirements Satisfaction:


This is an Option 1 class; two Option 1 classes fulfill the J.D. writing requirement.


Exam Notes: (P) Final paper  
Course Category: International and Comparative Law
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Social Justice and Public Interest

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