News

Volunteers of the Duke Immigrant and Refugee Project (DIRP) recently celebrated their work on various pro bono projects completed during the past fall semester. DIRP is a student pro bono group that assists immigrants and refugees in the Triangle Area in gaining a sense of security and control over their lives by focusing on research, resources, and outreach for this target population.

DIRP receives faculty support from Clinical Professor Kate Evans, the director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, Clinical Professor Shane Ellison, the clinic’s supervising attorney, and Clinical Fellow Jenny Kim. Evans is a leading scholar of immigration law and policy and has published immigration law scholarship in the Minnesota Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, Lewis & Clark Law Review, and several practitioner-oriented publications.
 
DIRP undertakes multiple volunteer legal service projects to provide critical legal services to immigrant and refugee communities, including the Pro Se Asylum project in immigration court, DACA Renewals, Deferred Action for Migrant Workers, Duke Afghan Asylum Project, the Refugee Assistance Project, and support for Special Juvenile Immigrant Status. In the past, DIRP has supported litigation projects and requests to release immigrants from detention.

North Carolina has one of the lowest representation rates in immigration court in the country. North Carolina is also one of the top states in the country to receive asylum seekers from the Southern border. The Pro Se Asylum project allowed students to partner with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy to assist ten families in preparing asylum applications filed through the Charlotte Immigration Court.
 
“In the past two years, 190 Duke Law students have volunteered to serve immigrants and refugees in North Carolina and the South. Through these projects, students have served 218 people seeking safety in the United States," Evans said.

"As the demand for services increase, and the number of immigration attorneys decreases, Duke Law students are working to fill this gap. I am endlessly impressed with their dedication, empathy, and commitment to serving others.”

DIRP has partnered with El Centro Hispano and Legal Aid of North Carolina to help local community members file their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewals. DACA renewals extend the period by which people who have grown up in the U.S. but who do not have authorization can remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation.

According to Gabriela Nagle Alverio ’25, project coordinator and executive director of DIRP, one of her fall highlights was the Deferred Action for Migrant Workers Clinic. During the clinic, 11 DIRP volunteers supervised by Evans assisted agricultural workers south of Durham, seeking protection against deportation and retaliation. At the same time, they support investigations by federal labor agencies into wrongdoing by their employers.

“We helped migrant workers who were eligible for deferred action from deportation based on their employers’ labor rights violations to apply for it. Some of the workers I talked with shared horrifying stories about the abuses they experienced or witnessed, and it was incredibly rewarding to hear a few months later that they had been approved for their deferred action, thereby freeing them from their employers,” said Nagle Alverio.

Claudia Modarelli ’26, a member of DIRP who assisted in the Deferred Action Clinic, said, “This experience was eye-opening for me on multiple levels as it was my first time working face-to-face with clients, and I got to learn about the experiences of migrant workers and the intersection of immigration and labor law. I really valued the experience of working together as a team. We all helped each other out when we faced challenges and were flexible in taking on different roles throughout the day, and I think that was critical to successfully completing the applications.”

The Refugee Assistance Project was another clinic that helped support clients seeking asylum. North Carolina has resettled thousands of refugees in the last few years, including many who recently fled Afghanistan. Students worked with the U.S. Committee for Refugee and Immigrants (USCRI) to file green card applications for new asylum grantees, family reunification petitions, and asylum applications for Afghan evacuees.

The Special Juvenile Immigrant Status is a special immigration status for minors who are present in the U.S. and have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both of their parents, and gives them a path to residency. Students were assigned to a minor’s case and prepared petitions for immigration relief on behalf of the minor.

Speaking on the overall experience of DIRP’s pro bono projects, Nagle Alverio said, “Along with the clinic, this fall, 49 DIRP members completed 336 pro bono hours helping clients file their asylum claims, renew their DACA status, file for naturalization, and prepare their Special Immigrant Juvenile Status claims. We look forward to continuing to provide critical support to migrants and expose students to impactful experiences that may shape their practice or pro bono work in the future.”

Olivia Callan '25, a pro bono coordinator for DIRP said, "DIRP has been such a wonderful experience, both personally and professionally. As a pro bono coordinator, I’ve particularly enjoyed getting to work with my classmates and meeting students outside of class."

“Immigration law is complex and often emotionally challenging, so it has been really inspiring to see the tenacity with which my fellow students and the supervising faculty take on this work. I have really appreciated getting to see the difference DIRP makes in the local community by helping immigrants with a wide variety of issues, helping individuals with things like pro se asylum cases, DACA renewals, and naturalization,” said Modarelli.