The Official Response to the Claim that the Notre Dame Immigration Clinic is Closing

Bob Jones Jr. Director, Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic, responded to a South Nend newspaper story that the law school was closing its immigration clinic in a message to the Clinical Law profs listserve:

Colleagues, I am writing to clarify several inaccuracies in the South Bend Tribune’s May 31st article on Notre Dame’s Legal Aid Clinic, which was circulated to this listserve. Contrary to the article’s title, the law school is not closing the Clinic’s immigration division or any other part of the Clinic’s operation. However, the late resignation of one of my colleagues, which occurred after the AALS deadline for fall hiring had passed, will result in a temporary vacancy in our faculty and an inability to bring on a hoped-for immigration fellow this fall. While we will not accept new immigration cases in the short term, my colleagues and I will continue to serve our many existing immigration clients. Stay tuned for a position announcement later this summer as we seek to fill our open position. I regret that this simple turnover in a faculty position has been cast in such a negative light.

Below is the text of a letter I sent to the editor of our paper:

“I am grateful that the South Bend Tribune’s recent front page article recognizes the important service that the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic renders to the South Bend community (Tribune, May 31). The headline to that article, however, may have left some members of the community with the mistaken impression that the Legal Aid Clinic is closing part or all of its operation. I want to assure your readers that is not the case. The immigration clinic, a division of the Legal Aid Clinic, continues to operate. While the departure of one of our colleagues will limit our ability to accept new immigration cases in the short term, the remaining faculty attorneys are actively serving the Clinic’s existing immigration clients. We plan to conduct a careful search to fill the vacant faculty position during the coming academic year. Four faculty attorneys, a paralegal, and law students continue to serve hundreds of low income clients in a variety of cases including mental health, housing, consumer protection, disability benefits, and end-of-life planning. The Clinic is funded entirely by Notre Dame Law School, constituting one of the university’s major contributions to the community. The Clinic’s service will continue for many years to come.”

KJ