July 17, 2017

This summer, rising 3E CUA Law student Christian Litwiller completed a pro bono project in partnership with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). CLINIC promotes the dignity and protects the rights of immigrants in partnership with a dedicated network of Catholic and community legal immigration programs. "The first project I worked on focused on updating a master reference document that outlines each federal circuit's current interpretation of federal immigration law. Each jurisdiction interprets what it means to 'harbor' undocumented immigrants differently, and in today's political environment knowing the standard a potential harborer will be held to is incredibly important.

The second project involved compiling all potentially relevant legal forms and documents for the state of Hawaii that may be needed if an undocumented immigrant was going to be deported. If an undocumented immigrant is being suddenly deported, that person requires quick access to legal services and forms in order to establish general, medical, and financial powers of attorney as well as, in some cases, adoption forms so that the soon to be deported person's children will continue to be cared for. These compiled forms are kept as reference documents and distributed as needed when soon to be deported immigrants are referred to CLINIC.

Working for Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. this summer has been rewarding because you are directly helping a group of people who need accurate legal information quickly, and you are providing that information to them in their time of need," Litwiller said.