Professor Cooper Comments for KQED on Immigration Sweep

Professor Holly S. Cooper ’98, co-director of the UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic, commented for Northern California public radio station KQED on a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that resulted in the arrests of more than 200 individuals accused of being in the United States without proper documentation.

Cooper said that those subject to deportation may be allowed to stay in the United States if they can show that have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country.

“When you tell the apprehending border patrol agent or ICE officer ‘I’m afraid to go back,’ it should trigger a special process for you,” said Cooper. “In that process, you are supposed to be permitted to have an interview with an asylum officer who can assess whether you have a credible fear in your home country. … If you pass that, then you go in front of a judge.”