UCLA School of Law: A Leader in Immigration Law and Policy
The UCLA School of Law has established itself as a national leader in immigration law and policy through its comprehensive programs, experiential learning opportunities, and impactful advocacy. The school's commitment to serving immigrant communities is evident in its various initiatives, centers, and clinics, all dedicated to providing legal support, promoting policy change, and empowering the next generation of immigration law experts.
Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP)
Founded in 2020, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law expands the law school’s role as a national leader in immigration law and policy. CILP generates innovative ideas at the intersection of immigration scholarship and practice; serves as a hub for transforming those ideas into meaningful changes in immigration policy at the local, state, and national level; and empowers students with unique opportunities for experiential learning through work with academics, practitioners, policymakers, and activists.
The Center is home to a number of prominent figures in the field of immigration law:
Ahilan T. Arulanantham: Professor from Practice and Co-Director of CILP. Ahilan teaches in the law school and also maintains an active litigation practice. He has successfully litigated a number of cases involving immigrants’ rights, including Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder, the first case to establish a federal right to appointed counsel for any group of immigrants; Jennings v. Rodriguez, which secured the due process rights of immigrants jailed for years while litigating their deportation cases; and Ramos v. Nielsen, a challenge to the Trump Administration's plan to end the TPS program. Ahilan has argued three times before the United States Supreme Court, most recently in the fall of 2021 on behalf of Americans of the Muslim faith who were targeted by the federal government for surveillance because of their religion in FBI v. Prior to joining UCLA, Ahilan was Senior Counsel at the ACLU in Los Angeles, where he worked for nearly twenty years.
Hiroshi Motomura: Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director of CILP. He is the author of Immigration Outside the Law (Oxford 2014), Americans in Waiting (Oxford 2006), and he is the co-author of Immigration and Citizenship: Process and Policy (West 9th ed. 2021). law professors profiled in What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard 2013). He received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his current book project, Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy (Oxford 2025).
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Talia Inlender: Deputy Director of CILP. Talia teaches the Immigrants’ Rights Policy Clinic and plays a lead role in advancing CILP’s research, advocacy, and litigation. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She has been co-counsel in transformative immigrants’ rights litigation, including: Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder, the first lawsuit to establish a right to government-appointed counsel for a class of immigrants with serious mental disabilities; F.L.B. (formerly J.E.F.M.) v. Lynch and C.J.L.G. v. Barr, lawsuits to vindicate children’s right to counsel in immigration proceedings; and International Refugee Assistance Project v.
Monika Y. Langarica: A senior staff attorney with CILP. The daughter of Mexican immigrants who settled in San Diego, Monika was born and raised in the borderlands. Before joining CILP, Monika was the immigrants’ rights staff attorney at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, where she pursued impact litigation, strategic direct representation, policy advocacy, and community education efforts in the border region. Prior to ACLU, Monika was a senior staff attorney with the ABA Immigration Justice Project of San Diego and served as an Equal Justice Works fellow at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland. Monika is a graduate of the University of Southern California (B.A.
Sofía López Franco: A staff attorney with CILP. Prior to joining CILP, Sofía was an Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) fellow at the Bronx Defenders, where she worked at the intersection of the immigration and criminal legal systems, providing direct representation in immigration proceedings and Padilla advisals to noncitizen clients. Before joining the Bronx Defenders, Sofía graduated cum laude from New York University School of Law, where she was a Latinx Rights Scholar and received the Christian Jarecki Memorial Prize for her outstanding work and commitment to a law clinic. Sofía received her B.A. in Political Science and Legal Studies from Northwestern University and is fluent in Spanish.
Sandra Hernandez: Director of Strategic Communications at CILP. She has spent more than two decades in communications and media. Most recently, as vice president of communications and media at MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), she led communications efforts around the organization’s defense of DACA, voting rights, and challenges to the integrity of the 2020 Census. A veteran journalist, she wrote about immigration and criminal justice as an editorial writer at Los Angeles Times. immigration detention system, including a covert federal program to forcibly drug and deport detained immigrants. She was born in Colombia and raised in Southern California.
Chloe Lin: Program Coordinator for CILP. Prior to joining UCLA, she was the Public Programs Assistant for the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. She has also worked as Project Coordinator for the Chinese Historical Society of New England and Marketing and Communications Associate for the Old North Church & Historic Site.
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Immigrant Family Legal Clinic at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools
UCLA Law's immigration faculty features eminent legal leaders who teach courses in the doctrine and theory of global migration and oversee dynamic experiential opportunities. Through the Center for Immigration Law and Policy and initiatives including the Immigrant Family Legal Clinic at the Robert F.
The clinic is located at the RFK Community Schools, a pathbreaking complex of six pilot public schools established as a tribute to the social justice legacy of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on the site (then the Ambassador Hotel) in 1968. In the clinic, law students under supervision of expert faculty provide direct representation to immigrant clients including unaccompanied minors, asylum-seeking families and low-wage workers. The clinic partners with other local service providers and national advocacy organizations to amplify its impact and bring a broad array of resources to the Koreatown community.
Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic
Our robust educational programs include the Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic, which partners with Public Counsel's Immigrants' Rights Project to help immigrants in the heart of Los Angeles.
David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
The David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy believes a more just world is possible and supports students and alumni in pursuit of that goal.
UC Immigrant Legal Services Center
UC Immigrant Legal Services Center Immigration law is constantly evolving, and navigating the legal system can be overwhelming-especially for undocumented and immigrant communities. At the Undocumented Student Program, we recognize the serious challenges our students face and are committed to providing confidential, reliable, and culturally responsive legal support. Through our partnership with UC Immigrant Legal Services,we serve the immigration-related legal needs of undocumented and immigrant students and their immediate family members, as well as mixed-status families.
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The UC Immigrant Legal Services Center is currently experiencing a high volume of inquiries and requests for assistance. We appreciate your patience during this time.
Services Provided
UCLA offers comprehensive immigration consultation, legal advice, and representation services to undergraduate and graduate students as well as their immediate family members. Our experienced immigration attorney and paralegal are available for personalized, one-on-one intake appointments and drop-in appointments for quick questions either in person or via Zoom. To schedule a consultation or learn more about the services we provide, please sign up for an appointment below.
Initial Intake
New Client: If you are new to the Center, please be sure to book an “Initial Intake” appointment. During the initial intake, we will conduct an in-depth screening to assess your eligibility for immigration relief and address any follow-up questions you may have.
Appointment Limits
Appointments Limits: Appointments are limited to one person per appointment. This is to ensure confidentiality and provide each individual a safe space to discuss sensitive matters. If you are already represented by an attorney in your immigration case, we recommend that you consult with your attorney directly for any case-related questions.
DACA and Legal Updates
Misinformation about immigration rights can create confusion, anxiety, and uncertainty. has legal rights, regardless of immigration status. On September 29, the parties in the DACA litigation filed briefs responding to questions Judge Hanen raised in his July DACA order. The briefings are arguments and recommendations that each of the parties has put forward for Judge Hanen to consider. The final briefing deadline is October 27, 2025. No court changes to DACA will occur before 10/27/2025.
Many news outlets and social media posts have highlighted that the government’s briefing signaled possibly processing initial DACA applications. However, it is important to remember that Monday’s briefing is the first round of briefs filed in response to Judge Hanen’s questions, and the arguments may evolve and change throughout the remainder of the briefing schedule. None of the arguments change the current status quo - until Judge Hanen says otherwise. Also important, is that in the same briefing the government states that their proposal does “not limit DHS from undertaking any future lawful changes to DACA.” This is a reminder that even outside of the context of litigation, the government can use its executive authority to take negative action towards DACA at any moment through the regulatory process. To do that, the administration must follow a legal process governed by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which includes publishing a notice, providing a comment period, responding to significant public comment, and issuing a final rule of repeal with a state rationale. This document provides an update about the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision on DACA, which became effective on March 11, 2025. At this point, it is only an announcement. At this time, there is no new process for undocumented immigrants to register. Speak with a trusted legal services provider about whether this may apply to you.
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