嘿嘿视频

'A Huge Community Effort'

Community leaders address the media in a church
Sacramento community and religious leaders speak with media at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral of Sacramento on June 6, 2023. (Photo via Twitter)

嘿嘿视频 School of Law alumni and students are leading efforts to assist migrants who were transported unannounced to Sacramento from the U.S.-Mexico border under . 

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, J.D. 鈥84, set the tone for local officials by warmly welcoming the 36 new arrivals, who were sent to Sacramento on two chartered flights in early June.

鈥淵ou bring people to our community who don鈥檛 know where their hope lies, we will provide them hope,鈥 Steinberg said during a who have taken a crucial role in accommodating the new arrivals.

Several 嘿嘿视频 Law alumni and students conducted initial legal screenings of the migrants 鈥 who hail from Venezuela, Colombia and elsewhere 鈥 while for other volunteer immigration attorneys to help.

鈥淚t is a huge community effort,鈥 said 嘿嘿视频 School of Law Professor , co-director of the law school鈥檚 Immigration Law Clinic and executive director of the .

P茅rez has helped recruit attorney volunteers while CRLAF attorneys Bianca Duenas, J.D. 鈥16, Marcus Tang 鈥10, J.D. 鈥14, and Nicole Zanardi 鈥17 immediately went to work assessing the new arrivals鈥 status when the first plane arrived June 2. CRLAF became involved through its associations with the multi-faith coalition and the  

鈥淲e worked with SacACT to create a list of the individuals who had arrived and tried to go through their immigration documents, to see who among them had been put into removal proceedings, or if anyone had an upcoming court hearing or ICE check-in,鈥 Zanardi said. The attorneys sought to 鈥渕ake sure we weren鈥檛 missing anything and could provide any immediate assistance needed.鈥

After the second group arrived June 5, the CRLAF attorneys conducted a more general information session, informing the migrants they would be matched with a volunteer attorney 鈥渇or an additional conversation where they could talk about their situation,鈥 Zanardi said.

King Hall alums and CRLAF attorneys Joana Peraza Lizarraga, J.D. 鈥21, and Monica Ortega, J.D. 鈥22, helped conduct screenings. King Hall students H茅ctor S谩nchez Casta帽eda and Leslie De La Torre provided vital assistance in their roles as CRLAF summer clerks.

Responding immediately to newly arrived migrants in crisis is part of the FUEL Network鈥檚 mission, Zanardi said.

鈥淎ny situation where we have a group of folks who are new to the Sacramento community who need assistance navigating the immigration system [and] where we can provide assistance, it鈥檚 important for us to help,鈥 Zanardi said. 鈥淎nd I think particularly in this case, it was a pretty egregious act by Gov. DeSantis and other actors who took advantage of these folks for their own political reasons.鈥

DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential hopeful, has been repeatedly condemned and threatened with legal action by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and others for Florida鈥檚 practice of transporting migrants to California and other states with Democratic leadership. 嘿嘿视频 School of Law Dean recently about DeSantis鈥 program and the history of U.S. politicians using immigrants as pawns.

Johnson, an internationally renowned immigration law scholar, noted that Steinberg had reached out when the migrants arrived in Sacramento to see if the law school could do anything to help.

鈥淚 was so pleased to learn that a team of King Hall alums was already assisting,鈥 Johnson said. He said it reminded him of how 鈥渨e had professors and students going to the airports to help people鈥 immediately after President Donald Trump instituted a ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority nations in 2017.

Immigration attorneys willing to provide the Sacramento migrant group with free consultations and limited-scope or full-scope representation are invited to fill out a

In addition, SacACT is coordinating an evolving list of needed to assist the migrants.

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