New Human Rights Project at Boston College

The Post-Deportation Human Rights Project, based at Boston College’s newly established Center for Human Rights and International Justice, is a pilot program designed to counsel, support, and represent individuals who have been deported from the United States; to investigate the effects of harsh deportation policies on families and communities; to advocate, in collaboration with these families and communities, for fundamental changes that will introduce legal predictability, proportionality, compassion, and respect for family unity into U.S. immigration law and policy; and to reframe deportation policy as a matter of international human rights. (It may also be known to some of you as the “Ruby Slippers Project.”) Through close work with community-based organizations and those most directly affected, this initiative addresses the psycho-social impact of deportation on individuals and communities and provides legal support and technical assistance to facilitate community responses. The Project incorporates research and policy analysis, field work by social work, psychology, and education graduate students, and legal representation by staff attorneys, law students, and pro bono counsel. Attached is a concept paper describing the Project in more detail. We welcome your comments. We are also interested in hearing from you regarding cases that might fit within our mandate. We are currently handling the following types of matters: 1) Individuals who were unlawfully removed (for example, situations in which a respondent had a valid citizenship claim, or some other sort of gross error occurred in removal proceedings or appeals); 2) Individuals who are eligible for a waiver to reenter the U.S. on an immigrant visa; 3) Individuals who are seeking to return temporarily to the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa to visit family members left behind. Because of limited resources we will be able to accept only a very small number of cases. However, we are also interested in collaborating with practitioners and law school clinics handling such matters, and would like to hear from you about any experiences you’ve had with these issues in the past. We envision this project as a seed that we hope you can help to grow.

You can reach the Project at PDHRP@bc.edu

or reach the individuals involved at the following addresses: Prof. Dan Kanstroom: kanstroo@bc.edu

Supervising Attorney Kathleen Gillespie: gilleskb@bc.edu

Supervising Attorney Rachel Rosenbloom: rachel.rosenbloom.1@bc.edu

KJ