By: Ally Laird

The Libraries Open Publishing Program has published its very first Open Access monograph, tilted “Back Into the Future of Immigration: Personal Stories by the Penn State Law Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic”. The monograph is edited by the founder and director of the Penn State Law’s Center for Immigrant’s Rights Clinic, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Esq. The publication showcases the personal stories from 11 past and current students of the clinic, many of whom are now practicing immigration law at large firms, as solo practitioners, for non-profit organizations, and in the federal government.

From Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia’s prologue, she notes, “I hope these essays showcase some of the projects and cases students have worked on during their time at the Clinic and the impact they have made to individuals, institutions, and the community. Importantly, these essays also reveal how the authors’ personal experiences have shaped how they entered law school and how they define themselves as lawyers. I hope readers can taste the sweat, blood, and heart of gold it takes to work in the immigration space — especially in a climate of ever changing policy and heightened uncertainty about the future. Beyond the essays, are photographs by each author to place a face on a story as well as selected excerpts of clinic projects and cases over the last decade.” The publication also includes a closing from Hari M. Osofsky, Dean, Penn State Law and School of International Affairs.

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia is the Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Clinical Professor of Law at Penn State Law. She is an expert on immigration law, with research focusing on prosecutorial discretion’s role in immigration law, and the intersections of race, national security, and immigration. She teaches doctrinal courses on immigration and asylum, and refugee law. She is also the founder/director of the Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, where she supervises students.

The Libraries Open Publishing Program, a part of the new Digital Scholarship and Data Services department, currently publishes eight Open Access journals, five bibliographies, a topical web portal publication, and now one Open Access monograph. For more information on the Open Publishing Program, please visit https://openpublishing.psu.edu, or contact Ally Laird at alaird@psu.edu.