More than half of immigrants currently involved in legal proceedings do not have legal representation. Stanford Law Prof. Jayashri Srikantiah — herself an immigrant — has decided to change that.

Srikantiah is the founder and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at the Law School. Originally from India, she grew up in an immigrant community in San Jose and has spent the majority of her career working on immigrants’ rights.

The clinic’s goal is to provide law students with invaluable experience and to provide first-class legal assistance to the Bay Area’s booming immigrant population, she said.

“What I am really looking for is students who are really committed to learning about immigrants’ rights,” Srikantiah said. “I really welcome students who want to learn more about something and want to try it out.”

The clinic is now working on five cases, which Srikantiah selected based on the educational value for students and the needs of the Bay Area immigrant community. All five cases involve either female survivors of domestic violence seeking to change their immigration status or lawful permanent residents with past convictions who are in deportation proceedings.

Creating a brochure about the cash assistance program for immigrants and investigating abuses in Bakersfield immigrant detention centers are two of the nine projects the clinic is working on.

Third-year law student Yulia Garteiser, who is a Russian immigrant, said the clinic has been really rewarding. She added that the experience she gained from participating in all aspects of developing cases — especially arguing cases in the immigration court in San Francisco — confirmed her interest in pro-bono immigration law.

“The more people involved, the more good we can do for the world — the better we can change peoples’ lives,” Garteiser said.

The Immigrants’ Rights Clinic is the seventh clinic launched by the Law School. Students had to apply to work with the clinic by submitting resumes and essays, and eight students were selected by Srikantiah. There number of applicants far exceeded the available spaces, she said.

“Doing immigrant rights work is something that is really necessary here in the Bay Area,” Srikantiah said. “These kinds of cases provide really meaningful learning opportunities for Stanford law students.”

The clinic serves immigrants from diverse backgrounds — people from Vietnam, Romania, Mexico and Korea — but the people involved in the clinic are just as diverse. Sonya Sanchez, a second-year law student from New Mexico, said her experience in the clinic has been amazing.

“I am the first person in my family to go to college,” Sanchez said. “I’ve been exposed to inequality my entire life. The clinic is a way to work towards equity.”

Two students are assigned to work on each of the five cases. They are supervised by Srikantiah and attend weekly meetings with other attorneys to discuss their progress. The class component, a lecture, meets once a week.

The clinic will be taught every semester, although there are currently no plans to increase capacity. Students who wish to stay with the program will be able to continue on to an advanced stage of the clinic. Sanchez, who will be the only student pursuing this option during the next academic year, said she is hooked.

“Jayashri sets a very high bar for the students because she wants the people we represent to get the best legal advice they can,” she said. “It couldn’t get any better.”