Immigration Clinic

A group of people smiling in front of a building

The Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic at the College of Law provides third-year law students (clinic interns) with the opportunity to gain valuable legal experience under the guidance of a supervising attorney.

Clinic interns represent clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Immigration Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. Courts of Appeal. Interns also lead community outreach and education presentations throughout the region in partnership with local service providers and community organizations.

Examples of intern projects include:

  • Representing clients in removal proceedings before Immigration Judges.
  • Handling appeals before the federal courts of appeals and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
  • Representing clients with applications for permanent residence, citizenship, asylum, special immigrant juvenile status and visas for victims of domestic violence and other crimes.
  • Developing educational materials and delivering presentations for community outreach efforts.
  • Providing individual legal consultations for members of University of Idaho and Washington State University communities.

Potential clients

If you’d like to request services from the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic, submit your information through our online form.

Note: Demand is high and our team can only accept select cases. A waitlist may apply.

Highlights from the past year

  • Clinic students Stacy Escobar-Machorro and Stephanie Wodnik won a case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Their client fled El Salvador to escape severe gang violence targeting him and his family. The judge denied his case because he held that the applicant had failed to show that the government of El Salvador was unwilling or unable to protect him. On appeal, Stephanie and Stacy argued that the agency erred by disregarding key and potentially dispositive pieces of evidence, including an expert report. They argued the case before a Ninth Circuit panel of three judges in Portland, Oregon in April 2025. The Court issued its decision ruling in their favor and granting the petition for review in May 2025.
  • Betsaida Chavez-Hermes, the clinic’s iMagis fellow located in Boise, won asylum in immigration court in December of 2025 for a family of four who had fled persecution in Nicaragua. The case involved multiple expert witnesses, complex legal arguments and a lengthy direct examination of the client. She also handled many other cases, including a U visa case for a homeless DACA recipient and affirmative asylum and TPS cases. She also oversaw consultations with regional students and new clients — all while helping to co-teach the clinic and supervise student teams.
  • Two clinic students successfully motioned for the immigration court to reopen proceedings for a minor who was ordered removed in absentia. This win was a huge success as the minor was at risk of deportation to a country where she would be harmed. The students also helped her apply for asylum.
  • An immigration clinic student, working in conjunction with a member of the Community Law Clinic, successfully obtained a state court guardianship order making findings that their sixteen-year-old Peruvian client had been abandoned and that it is not in her best interest to return to Peru. Based on the order, the clinic filed an application for the client to receive Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and remain in the United States.
  • Two clinic students applied for green cards for a survivor of labor trafficking and his three children. If the family is granted green cards, it will open a pathway for this family to reunite with the mother of the children who lives abroad.
  • Clinic students offered regular consultations with students at the University of Idaho and Washington State University concerning their immigration issues, and also filed various other immigration applications for clients, including asylum, relative petitions, parole and waivers of inadmissibility.

Citizenship Day Naturalization Workshop

Since 2022, the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic has proudly co-sponsored an annual “Citizenship Day” Naturalization Workshop at the College of Law in Boise. During this event, clinic students and other volunteers — many of them U of I alumni and former clinic participants — work alongside community members to help them complete their naturalization applications to become U.S. citizens.

In 2024, the workshop assisted approximately 30 individuals. The event offers students a meaningful opportunity to support the local community while connecting with experienced immigration practitioners.

Partner organizations for this event include the Idaho Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Catholic Charities, Familias Unidas, the International Rescue Committee and the Diversity Section of the Idaho State Bar.

Contact the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic

Geoffrey Heeren
Professor of law and director of the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic
208-885-6110
gheeren@uidaho.edu
Location: Moscow

Betsaida Chavez-Hermes
iMagis postdoctoral fellow at the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic
betsaidac@uidaho.edu
Location: Boise