For many Stanford Law students, a recent opportunity to test their legal skills outside the classroom offered purpose and urgency. When the Stanford Immigration and Human Rights Law Association (SIHRLA) launched a new pro bono initiative, nearly 90 students signed on – eager to contribute to, learn from, and support nonprofits working on the front lines of immigration and human rights law.
The SIHRLA Action Hub, launched in February, was born out of concern over sweeping federal immigration policy changes. The idea was simple: give law students a chance to put their legal training to work by connecting them with specific research projects requested by resource-strapped nonprofits like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), CASA, and Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA).
“The political climate was provoking a range of complex emotions, and we wanted to channel that energy into something productive and meaningful,” says Jasmine Betancourt, JD ’26, SIRHLA’s co-president and founder of the Action Hub. “The outpouring of support we received from the student body was electrifying.” Within a few weeks, the Action Hub built a system to track and assign projects, and almost 90 students have signed up as volunteers. “We understood that many nonprofits were underwater, and we wanted to mobilize to meet the demand as quickly as possible.”
The Action Hub coordinators review each assignment and match it with student volunteers. Most projects involve legal research and memo writing, primarily in asylum cases, but also in matters related to immigrant detention at Guantánamo and other immigration or human rights issues. Students work under the supervision of nonprofit attorneys, while the Action Hub handles training, quality control, and deadline management. Since the start of the spring quarter, Betancourt estimates students have completed around 20 projects totaling more than 100 hours of pro bono work.
Professor Jayashri Srikantiah, founding director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and director of the Mills Legal Clinic, advised the Action Hub organizers from the start, encouraging them to model the effort on a similar student-led initiative from 2017. “This is critical work in a very challenging time for immigrants’ rights,” she says. “I’m proud to have supported SIHRLA on the Action Hub and other projects this year.”
We understood that many nonprofits were underwater, and we wanted to mobilize to meet the demand as quickly as possible.”Jasmine Betancourt JD ’26, SIRHLA Co-President and Action Hub Founder
Tanvi Kohli, JD ’26, a SIHRLA board member who helped initiate the Action Hub and will spend her summer working in human rights, says, “The Hub has been one part of a larger wave of interest in immigration and human rights issues at the law school. What’s been exciting is not just how quickly we got the Hub off the ground, but how it’s contributed to increased interest in advocacy at the law school.”
She says some of that momentum comes from SIHRLA’s programming, especially its “Defending Immigrants’ Rights” speaker series and collaborations with the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic and the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. “We’ve been very active and intentional with our programming, and I think that consistency has helped students feel like they can contribute to material change,” she adds. This spring, SIHRLA’s events have included panels on sanctuary policies, immigration rights lawyering, border enforcement in the U.S. and Europe, and networking events for students interested in immigration and human rights careers.
Frishta Qaderi, JD ’26, co-president of SIHRLA, says another benefit of the work has been the opportunity to build connections with undergraduates at Stanford University who are also engaged in immigration advocacy. “It has been heartening to see how much undergrads are doing in this space and how happy they are to meet law students.”
“What makes this work sustainable is the support structure we’ve built – peer mentorship, faculty involvement, and a real sense of purpose,” adds Qaderi, who also will work on human rights projects over the summer. “We’ve been intentional about institutional memory, so that the next generation of students can build on what we have started.”
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This story was originally published by Stanford Law School.
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Monica Schreiber
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Monica Schreiber
