Touro Law Receives $100K Grant for Immigration Law Clinic from the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program
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Touro Law Receives $100K Grant for Immigration Law Clinic from the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program
April 1, 2015Touro Law Center is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock Dean Patricia Salkin announced today. The grant will enable the Immigration Law Clinic to provide legal representation to unaccompanied minors related to their legal status under the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
“We are grateful to the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock for providing this grant,” said Dean Salkin. “This money will enable us to continue advocating for immigrants while providing legal training for law students.”
Law students enrolled in the Immigration Law Clinic, headed by Professor William Brooks, will provide representation to minors who are the subject of removal or deportation proceedings. The clinic will work with unaccompanied minors who have been found to have entered the United States illegally and attempt to obtain legal status for the minor. In addition, the clinic will work to facilitate the appointment of a guardian when representing a petitioning minor and attempt to locate probono or low bono counsel for the guardian. The goal of the clinic is to help these minors obtain lawful status in the United States and ultimately become United States citizens.
Touro Law’s clinical program teaches practice-ready skills required for effective advocacy while providing no cost legal services for the community. Students work under close faculty supervision to provide legal assistance to actual clients. Currently, 12 clinics are offered: Advanced Bankruptcy Clinic , Bankruptcy Clinic, Criminal Defense Clinic, Criminal Prosecution Clinic, Disaster Relief Clinic, Elder Law Clinic, Family Law Clinic, Federal Prosecution Clinic, Immigration Law Clinic, Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic, Small Business and Not-for-Profit Law Clinic and the Veterans' and Servicemembers' Rights Clinic.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock is unique among UU congregations in having its own fully-staffed grant making program. Drawing upon the generous bequest of Caroline Veatch, the UU Veatch Program at Shelter Rock supports organizations that put Unitarian Universalist principles into practice. The Veatch Program funds Unitarian Universalist and community organizations working on a variety of issues in different parts of the country. A professional staff works with the elected Board of Governors to fund organizations advancing public policies and grassroots level organizing that addresses the root of social problems. Briefly summarized, the mission of the UU Veatch Program at Shelter Rock is to “provide support for efforts within the religious and spiritual mission of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock where their purposes are best served by outside agencies acting under the Veatch Program and the Congregation.”
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law school is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 650 and an alumni base of more than 6,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.
Touro Law’s newly implemented Portals to Practice is a cutting-edge, experiential learning program that reconceives and restructures the law school experience. Portals to Practice expands the scope and quality of legal education by focusing on the development of legal professionals, from pre-law through post-graduation.
About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062