The Center is a state-wide support center with recognized expertise in complex litigation and the substantive law relating to immigrants and refugees. A partial list of the Center's major litigation includes the following cases: Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) (lead counsel for state-wide class of undocumented children denied access to public elementary education because of their immigration status); Reno v. Catholic Social Services, 509 U.S. 43 (1993) (lead counsel for national class of persons unlawfully denied legalization under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986); Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993) (lead counsel in national class action on behalf of children denied release on bail pending the outcome of deportation proceedings); League of United Latin American Citizens v. Wilson, 131 F.3d 1297 (9th Cir. 1997) (lead counsel in state-wide class action challenging constitutionality of state proposition denying health care, social services and education to suspected undocumented immigrants); and Orantes-Hernandez v. Smith, 541 F.Supp. 351 (C.D. Cal. 1982) (lead counsel for national class of Salvadoran nationals seeking political asylum in the United States).

1. Federal court litigation, legislative advocacy, and training aimed at regularizing the status of 500,000 amnesty-eligible immigrants who were illegally excluded from the 1987-88 amnesty program.
2. Federal court litigation regarding the treatment of unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children.
3. Monitoring a nationwide settlement with the INS involving the conditions under which minors are detained and released by the INS, including monitoring of the final settlement and training of advocates regarding the terms of the settlement.
4. Protecting the rights of immigrants and refugees in need of public social, health and education services.
5. The rights of victims of particularly severe forms of human trafficking.
6. Monitoring and evaluating the treatment of non-citizens of Middle Eastern origin in the wake of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

We work in other areas of law and policy with IOLTA-recipients. CHRCL welcomes the input of Trust Fund programs into its priority setting process.

Technical Assistance

CHRCL is committed to providing technical assistance to IOLTA-funded programs throughout California. Please contact us by telephone, facsimile, mail or e-mail to seek assistance on complex or unusual immigration, deportation, detention, naturalization and/or political asylum cases. We also provide general assistance on federal practice and procedure in class action cases.

Technical assistance is provided in a variety of ways depending on our resources and the needs of the local program and/or the client(s), such as by -

1. Providing on-line information and litigation updates via the Center's World Wide Web site, http://www.centerforhumanrights.org.
2. Discussing cases on the telephone or via e-mail, assessing possible approaches to a client's problem, and evaluating the merits of particular issues.
3. Commenting on or recommending approaches in complex cases.
4. Researching and analyzing legal issues.
5. Providing written materials including research memos, model pleadings, briefs, etc.
6. Evaluating draft complaints, briefs and other pleadings.

Publications

CHRCL makes copies of legal briefs for use by attorneys and community advocates representing the immigrant and refugee poor. To receive a copy of the Center's briefs please contact Peter Schey (213) 388-8693, ext. 104, or Carlos Holguin, ext. 109.

Training

CHRCL is available to conduct training in California for legal services and community-based organizations in the areas of federal litigation, immigration and refugee law, and constitutional law. We will travel to your area to conduct training programs. Please write or telephone Carlos Holguin, (213) 388-8693, ext. 109, with training requests.

Litigation Assistance

CHRCL is available to co-counsel litigation with IOLTA recipients. In 2002-03 CHRCL will devote a substantial portion of its resources to co-counseling major litigation with California legal aid groups. In some cases we will serve as lead counsel, in others as co-counsel and in others as of-counsel, depending on the needs of the local program and the proposed litigation.

Income Assistance Guidelines

Persons meeting the following income guidelines are eligible for free legal assistance from the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law Foundation:

For family units with more than eight members, add $3,020 for each additional member in a family.