TO THE EDITOR:
I was disappointed to see your (print) headline on Dec. 2 stating “On campus, no legal help.”
It is true that Carolina Student Legal Services does provide immigration advice. However, it is not true that we do not provide legal help to undocumented students. Immigration is a very specialized area of law. Most immigration lawyers do not practice other types of law and have specialized training in this area.
Our prepaid legal services plan with the North Carolina State Bar says, “All immigration and tax matters are highly specialized and the attorneys limit their advice in those matters to referrals only.” This information is also on our website. We are a general practice law firm established by student government in 1976 to meet the wide range of legal services that students need.
While we do not advise undocumented students on immigration matters, we advise them on other legal matters and assist them in accessing resources in the local community.
We also address the needs of our diverse student population through legal education programs.
Due to the concerns of our undocumented students, we have partnered with an immigration attorney to host an information night on immigration laws.
We encourage all students to contact us with any legal matter. We understand that legal problems are stressful for our students. If we are not able to provide direct representation or advice, we will try to provide information to help our students make an informed decision about how to handle a legal matter.
Fran Muse
