REWI Uni Graz: Dear Joanne, welcome to Graz! How do you like the city and our faculty so far?
Joanne Gottesman: I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the faculty, staff, and students of the university, as well as the beautiful city of Graz. The breadth and depth of the faculty’s expertise is impressive and my students have raised very thoughtful questions in our classroom discussions. After class, I appreciate taking walks through Graz to explore the architecture and the greenery.
You are holding a course on U.S. Immigration Law and Policy. Why did you chose this topic to focus on?
I chose to teach about U.S. Immigration Law and Policy because it is the focus of my work: I research and write about the intersection between federal immigration law and state criminal justice and child welfare systems in the United States. Immigration law and policy provides a window into the U.S. and is a good subject matter for introducing international law students to the roles of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government and how they function (or don’t!).
I learned that you founded the Immigrant Justice Clinic (a student-led law office representing clients in immigration matters) at Rutgers University in 2012. Please tell us a bit more about this project and why you think it is important to involve students so early on in it!
Because we don’t have a structured apprentice system in the U.S., clinical legal education is the only way to ensure U.S. law students have an opportunity for an intensive practice experience in which they receive extensive feedback and also learn what it feels like to be fully responsible for a client’s case before they start practicing themselves. Clinic students practice under my license and fully assume the role of an attorney. In my clinic, law students may have the opportunity to appear in Immigration Court, State Court, or at the Asylum Office. They interview and counsel clients, conduct fact investigation and legal research, and make difficult ethical and strategic decisions. My students almost always come away from the clinic with a deeper understanding of the impact of trauma on our clients, as well as a first-hand perspective on the failures of the U.S. immigration system.
Last but not least: What’s next on your agenda?
After I finish writing and grading my exams, I will be traveling with my family through Southern Austria and the Slovenian Alps. I can’t wait! When I return to the U.S., I will get back to my client work, which I have been able to maintain from abroad thanks to all of the remote lawyering techniques we developed during the pandemic. I will also finish edits an article about some of the ways that U.S. immigration law fails to treat children as children.
Sarah Jauk