A free DACA renewal legal clinic will be held in the Multicultural Student Center of the Red Gym Monday afternoon.
The event — held from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. — will be administered by the Immigrant Justice Legal Clinic of UW-Madison’s Law School and will provide pro bono assistance to students and community members during their DACA renewal processes.
The idea to host the clinic came from a task force assembled under last year’s Campus Climate Progress Report, according to task force member Laura Minero. Minero said the force meets to discuss how to support undocumented and international students on campus.
“We’ve been working together with [Chancellor Blank] to create a sanctuary campus,” Minero said. “We know that the Immigration Justice Clinic and the Immigration Law Center have been providing pro bono services by letting [DACA recipients with questions] walk in, but we thought that it would be most beneficial to have the clinic that is strictly dedicated to [helping with DACA renewal].”
Minero said one of the main reasons this clinic is important is because the deadline to renew DACA is Oct. 4, and recipients were not given much notice about the deadline.
According to Minero, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security only gave a month’s warning of the deadline, and when they did, they announced it through the media rather than contacting recipients directly.
“[This clinic] is a resource that is critical for the limited warning that we received and the big implications it could have for the lives of the people who have DACA,” Minero said. “People might not be able to afford legal services to renew, so it is great that this is being provided pro bono.”
No appointment is needed to attend the clinic.
