Immigration and Human Rights (Spring 2010)
Project Description: In spring 2010, the Leitner Clinic partnered with the Returnee Integration Support Center (RISC) in Cambodia and Deported Diaspora, on a project that addresses the potential removal of over 1,000 individuals of Cambodian origin living in the United States. The Leitner team consisted of Fordham Law students Millie Canter (`10), Xiomara Ferrera (`10), Erin Miles (`11), Catherine Parnell (`10) and was co-supervised by Prof. Chi Mgbako and Zaid Hydari, a Dean's Fellow at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice.
Background: In March 2002, the United States and Cambodia signed an agreement permitting the removal of potentially over 1000 individuals of Cambodian origin living in the United States. The individuals entered the U.S. legally, mostly as refugees in the early 1980s who fled the oppressive conditions of the Khmer Rouge. Their removal is due to an increase in and expansion of enforcement on the part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of policies relating to the removal of deportees who have committed crimes (largely a result of legislation passed in 1996). The crimes for which individuals have been convicted range from relatively minor things like theft and non-violent drug offenses to gang violence. Case-by-case humanitarian review is not available in removal proceedings, giving the immigration judge no discretion to consider such factors as the individual’s family relationships, military service, likelihood of persecution, or lack of connections to country of origin. The removal of individuals who have little to no contact with Cambodia creates a number of problems. Firstly, Cambodia is ill-equipped to receive such a large and complex group of individuals. Secondly, the practice destroys family unity, leaving many families in the U.S. without a primary income earner. Finally, the policy routinely ignores the special needs of individuals suffering from mental health issues or other physical health complications.
Project Outcome: The Leitner Clinic partnered with the Returnee Integration Support Center (RISC) in Cambodia and Deported Diaspora to create a returnee human rights database for use by advocates in Cambodia and the U.S. to seek post-deportation relief and drafted a policy report that DD and RISC will use in their advocacy efforts. The Clinic's report, " Removing Refugees: US Deportation Policy and the Cambodian-American Community" was officially released on Capital Hill and distributed to all members of Congress.
Description of Fieldwork: In March 2010, the Leitner Clinic traveled to Cambodia and conducted interviews with returnees for both the database and the report. Follow up advocacy with the report was done in DC in June 2010.
Partner Organization:The Leitner Clinic partnered with RISC and Deported Diaspora. Returnee Integration Support Center in Cambodia is an NGO facilitating the integration into Cambodian society of people who were admitted to the United States as refugees and are being deported to Cambodia. They offer documentation, employment, housing and referral services in order to support returnees who seek to become independent and productive members of society. Deported Diaspora unifies families and communities to raise awareness and challenge the US deportation system through education, organizing and art.
Reproductive Rights (Fall 2009)
Project Description: Although Ethiopia has one of the most progressive abortion laws in Africa, U.S. foreign policy plays a significant role in limiting access to safe abortion services in Ethiopia, due to the impact of the Helms Amendment and confusion regarding the recent rescinding of the Global Gag Rule. The Leitner Clinic partnered with Ethiopian masters of law students and faculty at Addis Ababa Law School, with the guidance of the international reproductive rights organization IPAS, to research and draft a report on this issue, which it distributed to members of Congress, USAID, and NGOs in Ethiopia and the United States. Leitner Clinic students Tashmin Ali (`10), David Ashley (`10), and Ndidi Ngboeli (`10) and three Ethiopian students researched the topic throughout the semester and conducted joint fieldwork in Awassa and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2009. The Clinic published and distributed thereport, “Exporting Confusion: U.S. Foreign Policy as an Obstacle to the Implementation of Ethiopia’s Liberalized Abortion Law” in May 2010.
Native American Women's Reproductive Health Rights (Spring 2009)
Project Description: In spring 2009, the Leitner Clinic partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota on a project that assessed the level of reproductive health care that is currently provided to American Indians in South Dakota through the Indian Health Services. The semester-long project focused on female reproductive health as it is provided both at reservation Indian Health Service clinics and hospitals and at urban clinics and hospitals. The project comprised of both research and analysis of the legal and administrative framework within reproductive health services. The project also included an onsite outreach program to gather stories and other information on reproductive healthcare from American Indian women. The Leitner team consisted of Fordham Law students Carolyn Kim (`09), Vanessa Nadal (`10), and Mark Son (`10) and was co-supervised by Prof. Chi Mgbako and Kristina Baehr, Yale/Bernstein Fellow.
Partner Organization:
Description of Fieldwork: In March 2009, the Leitner Clinic conducted face-to-face interviews with 59 American Indian women ranging in age from 21 to 62 years in South Dakota. The team interviewed women on the Sisseton-Wahpeton and Cheyenne River Reservations and in Rapid City, South Dakota. These three focus sites represent distinct communities within the Indian Health Services (IHS) Aberdeen Area.
Project Outcome: The ACLU of South Dakota used the Leitner Clinic's findings as the basis for litigation concerning reproductive health rights on Native American reservations.
