A Milwaukee man who faced deportation has been released from a Wisconsin detention facility and reunited with his family, thanks to the work of two University of Wisconsin Law School students.

Chris Russell and Loredana Valtierra, students in the Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic, handled all aspects of the man’s case under the supervision of clinic director Stacy Taeuber. The complicated nature of the case meant students had to represent their client in state and federal courts, a mission they took on wholeheartedly, according to Valtierra.

“Having the responsibility of someone's future in our hands, in actuality, a whole family's future, was a bit unnerving. But we couldn't have been more prepared for it, which is why the federal judge's ‘cancelation of removal’ order felt like it was a long time coming,” she says.

Taeuber says the man’s success in court comes after her students worked countless hours on his case, which involved meeting with the client at the detention facility, preparing him and his girlfriend to testify, writing a brief, and practicing their arguments. Russell and Valtierra also conducted a full moot, or rehearsal, of the hearing in class.

For both students, the experience was a first: neither had ever handled a case from start to finish, nor had they presented arguments in court.

“We were working against the clock and juggling multiple items: state and federal filing deadlines, locating important evidence, interacting with complicated witnesses, performing legal research, arguing in court,” Russell says. “It was a fantastic learning experience.”

Until Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities arrested the client earlier this year, he had held a green card and “lawful permanent residence” status, permitting him to live and work in the United States. Born in the Dominican Republic, he’d come to the U.S. at age five to live with his father — but his father died less than a year later, leaving the client to fend for himself. At 19, he moved to Milwaukee, where he has since made a home with his girlfriend and their two children.

In 2012, on the advice of an attorney, the client pleaded guilty to the charge of fleeing from police. In spite of his attorney’s assurances, the conviction and resulting one-year prison sentence had grim consequences for the man, even though he was not required to serve any of the sentence: it triggered his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities and set deportation proceedings in motion.

Before they could argue their client’s case in immigration court, Russell and Valtierra successfully secured a sentence reduction in state criminal court. Reducing the sentence by one day meant the client could ask the immigration court to cancel the deportation order, a request granted by a judge in October. Five months after his arrest, the client was freed to return to his family, and his lawful permanent residency was restored.

Valtierra says the hearing that determined their client’s fate ended quickly, “almost like a movie.”

“Tears were streaming down his face, and he looked like he hardly believed it was over,” she adds. “Knowing he gets his life back makes all of our work worthwhile.”

UW Law School formed the Immigrant Justice Clinic in 2012 to meet the legal needs of Wisconsin’s underserved immigrant community. Through direct legal representation in immigration court, consultations in criminal proceedings, and education regarding immigrant rights, the IJC has brought about successful outcomes for low-income immigrants throughout the state.

Learn more about the clinic and its success stories.

Submitted by Tammy Kempfert on December 8, 2014

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