UNLV Immigration Clinic may close without funding

Michael Kagan, professor of Law and Director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, is seen in November 2019. (File/Las Vegas Review-Journal).
UNLV's Immigration Clinic may be at threat of shutting its doors if it does not secure additional financing, but an expense in the Nevada Legislature could help keep the workplace open.

On April 3, the Nevada Legislature heard Assembly Bill 328 which would double the clinic's funding to $1 million for 2 years.

In 2015, the center - - which is housed downtown - - represented over 200 immigrants dealing with deportation. Roughly 150 of those cases were children, with the youngest customer age 3, according to director Michael Kagan.

Throughout the 2021 legislative session, the state passed a bill that gave the center $500,000 over 2 years. Clark County matched those funds, while Las Vegas attorney Ozzie Fumo contributed office to the clinic in the city's Arts District.

2 years later, the center now has 5 lawyers who offer totally free legal migration services for over 200 open cases, but the office still doesn't have enough personnel to work as effectively as possible, Kagan said.

Considering that the office opened in 2015, the need for legal services has grown, Kagan said. In December, the center had 90 children on the wait list, and that number continues to grow, as 27 more caretakers of unaccompanied kids have actually called for help.

The clinic has received 114 calls because January from immigration detention centers requesting help, however these cases might have to be turned away because of a lawyer's workload or the case's level of seriousness, according to Leslie Joya, an Immigrant Justice Corps fellow who works at the center.

" We're a state with a large immigrant population and lots of people are touched by the migration system," Kagan said. "Deportation does not simply affect a single person, it impacts a whole household.".

The costs got opposition from conservative organizations, such as the Nevada Families for Freedom and Nevada Republican Club. They've expressed concern that the financing would protect undocumented bad guys, however the center mainly represents unaccompanied kids dealing with deportation.

" You are out of line to expect taxpayers to pay for the result of criminal behavior and bad policies that enable trafficked children and illegals to flood through our border," Susan Proffitt, a director with the Nevada Republican Club, stated during the public hearing. "… … Democrats open the border to the cartels that killed my child with fentanyl and thousands more.".

Committed and reliable legal services.

In 2014, the clinic began working on unaccompanied children cases, in which kids are often getting away violence in their home countries and end up on U.S. soil, according to Kagan. If not for the clinic, children would have to represent themselves in court.

" We understand that when somebody goes to migration court alone, they have almost no opportunity and are nearly except being deported," Kagan stated. "And they do not have to be.".

Kids facing deportation don't completely understand what's at stake when they go to immigration court, Joya stated. In court, children are asked to answer difficult concerns - - like why they got away - - that might run the risk of re-traumatizing them.

For Joya, she sees herself and her mom in individuals she represents.

" I matured undocumented for the majority of my life," she said. "These are the specific services that I want my family had access to when I was growing up.".

Deanna Hua Tran, a planner with the Nevada Immigration Coalition, thinks the center remains in the very best interest of its customers, as not all migration legal services are developed equivalent.

" People find methods to truly prey on our communities," Hua Tran stated. "The more committed and dependable legal assistance services we can continue to advocating for, we should.".

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0350. Follow @jimi_writes on Twitter.