Two students at the Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic prevented the deportation of a 29-year-old Filipino man for “minor criminal charges” last month. The law students’ case was rock-solid — their client was actually a U.S. citizen.

Francisco Ancheta, who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, was unknowingly naturalized by derivative citizenship, an obscure statute in immigration law that allows a person who moves to the U.S. before turning 18 and whose parents naturalized to become a citizen without filing any papers.

“Most people in removal cases do not have lawyers, so they represent themselves,” said second year law student Liz Morris, who helped represent Ancheta. “The difference between the criminal system — where you have a right to a lawyer — and the immigration system is that deportation is not perceived to be a punishment, so you don’t have the right to a lawyer.”

Morris’ partner in the case said the case highlighted problems in the justice system.

“I think a lot of people perceive the immigration system to be broken, and maybe this is a sign of that,” said third-year law student Hilary Ley, who also represented Ancheta.

Navigating the complexities of immigration law without expert legal guidance is difficult for many non-citizens facing deportation, they said. Many immigrants face a language barrier, and even more are unaware of loopholes and fine print that could aid their case. Immigrants are sometimes detained in holding facilities, complicating their efforts to gather necessary documentation for the case.

The government does not systematically screen for exceptions like Ancheta’s, Ley and Morris noted. Without pro bono counsel from groups like Stanford’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC), the pair said these immigrants’ prospects of remaining in America are usually bleak.

Ancheta stated that his deportation would have been very difficult for his family to manage.

“I have my wife and my son here,” he said. “I am the only one that works and supports my family, and it would be hard for them to support themselves. My son is too small.”

As far as the students had heard, this was the first case in which the IRC had discovered that an immigrant facing deportation was actually a citizen.

Owing to this fact, the judge’s final decision was not discretionary. Once Ley and Morris proved certain key aspects of the case, the judge had no other option but to allow Ancheta to remain in the country.

In addition to assisting immigrants, Morris said the IRC offers law students valuable practice in all aspects of cases, including interviewing clients and witnesses, writing pleadings, investigating facts, conducting research, and presenting cases.

Organizations similar to the IRC, which is in its third year of existence, also exist at other law schools like UC-Davis and NYU.

Despite the experience, Ancheta said he feels that the U.S. immigration system is functional.

“A lot of people are doing bad things within the system, but overall the system is good,” he said.

“Part of the problem is the way money is allocated within the system,” Morris agreed. “Money is spent on fences and deporting minor criminals like Ancheta, not on lawyers and research before placing people in deportation proceedings.