Clinical Professor of Law Karla McKanders asked students in her Refugee Law and Policy class to produce their final reports as audio stories.
Listen to Episode 136 of The Life of the Law’s New Voices series, which features stories on topics in refugee law by VLS students Joshua Minchin ’20, Simona Grecu ’19 and Rachael Pikulski ’19.
In “Well-Founded Fear,” Joshua Minchin ’20 reports that how “well-founded fear” is defined and interpreted can make a profound difference for individuals seeking refuge in the United States. Minchin is currently working in the chambers of Chief Judge Karon Bowdre of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
In “Wrong Judge at the Wrong Time,” Simona Grecu ’19 asks what happens if a refugee appears in a U.S. Immigration court with a claim of well-founded fear. Will they receive a fair hearing by the court, or do judges bring their own bias to the bench in asylum hearings? Grecu is currently working as a summer associate at Akin Gump in Dallas.
In the final segment, Rachael Pikulski ’19 takes a look at the effect of recent cuts in the amount of funding the U.S. provides to the United Nations agency that helps refugees around the world on Palestian refugees. Pikulski is currently working as a summer associate for Dunlap Bennet & Ludwig in Vienna, Virginia.
