Rutgers Law School is pleased to offer students the opportunity to obtain a Certificate in Immigration Law. This program offers students with a special interest in the field of immigration law the opportunity to pursue that interest in a structured framework, and to achieve special recognition for doing so.
The program is designed to ensure that students: (1) are exposed to a broad range of issues in immigration law and procedure, and (2) obtain some practical experience in the field.
Requirements:
The program is open to all Rutgers law students who have completed their first year of law school. To complete the certificate program, students are required to take an additional minimum of 15 credits in approved upper level immigration law and procedure-related courses. Because the certificate was approved by the faculty in Spring 2019, only students who graduate from Rutgers Law School in May 2019 or later are eligible to apply.
To obtain the certificate, a student must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in any courses used to satisfy the certificate requirements. Students are not permitted to take any of the courses they need for award of the certificate pass/fail.
To earn the certificate, a student must complete at least one course from each of the following four categories. Any course listed under these categories would count toward the 15 credits required for the certificate.
Category 1. Students must take one of the following courses:
• Immigration Law
• Immigration & Citizenship Law
• Immigration & Naturalization Law
Category 2. Students must take at least one of the following courses:
• Administrative Law
• Legislation
• Legislation/Regulation
• Regulatory State
• Statutory Interpretation & Legislation
Category 3. Students must take at least one of the following courses:
• Advanced Immigration & Citizenship Seminar
• Business Immigration
• Child Migration & U.S. Immigration Policy
• Citizenship Law
• Constitutional Membership
• Crimmigration
• Immigration Law & Policy Seminar
• Refugee Law
Category 4. Students must participate in at least one of the following:
• Child Advocacy Clinic
• Immigrant Justice Clinic
• Immigrant Rights Clinic
• A qualifying externship or practicum with an immigrant rights organization, immigration legal services provider, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, or the Department of Homeland Security
If a student has satisfied the four categories above, but has not yet met the 15-credit requirement, the student may take additional courses in the categories above, or may take courses from the list below to satisfy the 15-credit requirement:
• Civil Rights Litigation
• Comparative International Legal Regimes
• Critical Race Theory
• Employment Discrimination Law
• Families Across Borders
• Family Law
• Human Rights Litigation & Advocacy
• Human Rights seminar
• Human Trafficking seminar
• Immigrant Community Justice Practicum
• International Criminal Law
• International Law & International Organizations
• International Human Rights
• International Human Rights Clinic
• International Legitimacy and Global Justice
• International Women’s Human Rights seminar
• Introduction to International Law
• NYU Immigration Law Moot Court
• Race, Civil Rights & Equality
• Race, Class & Metropolitan Equity
• Spanish for Lawyers
• State Constitutional Law
Courses may be added to or removed from these lists with appropriate administrative approval. The Law School will endeavor to offer students reasonable opportunities to satisfy the requirements of the certificate program. However, resources are limited, and the demands of the program will have to be balanced against other law school needs. Rising second year students are advised to plan in advance to maximize their opportunity to satisfy certificate requirements.
Faculty Advisors:
Students are encouraged to reach out to a faculty advisor with questions about the certificate.
The faculty advisor for the Newark campus is Professor Anju Gupta, and the faculty advisor for the Camden campus is Professor Joanne Gottesman.