WIRAC Receives Public Service Award

The Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association presented the Paul J. McQuillan Public Service Award to the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC) on October 19, 2017.

The award was in recognition of the clinic’s efforts since 2007 to provide Connecticut criminal defense attorneys, including the private bar and public defenders, with comprehensive training in the intersection of criminal and immigration law. The Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (CCDLA) regularly retains WIRAC to provide immigration consequences trainings for the criminal defense bar. In the past, CCDLA has also retained WIRAC to analyze and advocate for judicial branch reforms to separate state criminal justice functions from federal immigration enforcement. In addition, approximately every two years, WIRAC has updated and published “A Brief Guide to Representing Non-Citizen Criminal Defendants in Connecticut,” an important reference tool designed to help criminal defense attorneys protect their non-citizen clients in state court proceedings. 

WIRAC also serves non-citizen residents through removal defense and the criminal defense bar through on-going research and litigation support.

WIRAC is taught by Deputy Dean for Experiential Education and Clinical Professor of Law Muneer Ahmad, Clinical Lecturer in Law Ruben Loyo, Associate Clinical Professor of Law Marisol Orihuela '08, and William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law Michael Wishnie '93.