Elizabeth Knowles’ Post 3mo Edited On June 15th, I filed an emergency habeas corpus petition in federal district court on behalf of a man arrested by ICE at his own USCIS asylum interview — a man who entered the US on a valid visa, with a US citizen wife, US citizen children, pending adjustment and asylum applications, and seven years of compliance and attendance at all appointments. Within seven hours of filing the notice, the TRO was granted. By that afternoon, he was transported back to San Francisco and released per the judge’s order. This morning, I presented arguments in the federal district court in Oakland, and the judge issued the preliminary injunction. We won. I’m thankful for the support and guidance of my colleagues who assisted in this effort, and to be part of the Bay Area Habeas Network. To every law student I have ever taught: this is what community lawyering looks like. When the government itself violates someone's constitutional rights, it takes a community of advocates who show up together to hold the line. For the past decade, I’ve been committed to preparing law students for practice in immigration clinics, social justice legal skills courses, and teaching mindfulness in the law. I love that work and am so proud of my students. And now I have returned to California and to direct advocacy through habeas cases as a senior attorney with the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area. One principle I returned to again and again with my students is this: “stay on your path, but let the scenery change.” A career in law does not have to look the same year after year. Our skills and our passions evolve, and they converge in ways that align with who we are and how we are each uniquely called to serve justice. Today the scenery looks like a federal courtroom, and the government being enjoined from depriving a man of his constitutionally protected liberty interest. See more comments More from this author Explore content categories