Immigration Law Class Assists with Release of Woodburn Mom

After more than eight months of being illegally detained in immigration custody, Woodburn Mom Marta Escalante Pérez was released from immigration custody, thanks to the hard work of law students taking an immigration law practicum course. Transformative Immigration Law taught them to file habeas corpus petitions for people who have been wrongfully detained.

Law students Sam Montagno, Claire Avalos, Alexia Lui, Brisa Franco, Ethan Yarish, and Erika Beech were all part of the law school practicum led by alum Stephen Manning ’01, and Kate Pritchard of Innovation Law Lab and Lewis & Clark Law Professor Juliet Stumpf. Manning is executive director and attorney, and Kate Pritchard is a staff attorney at Innovation Law Lab, which provides legal services to immigrants in Oregon. A practicum is an experiential learning course designed to provide students with direct exposure to legal practice under the guidance of a licensed attorney, permitting them to translate theoretical knowledge into professional competency.

The practicum connected students with the work of the Equity Corps of Oregon (ECO), Oregon’s universal representation program for Oregonians in removal proceedings. Students were encouraged to think in novel ways about how law evolves and what role lawyers can play in its evolution.

Law student Sam Montagno interviewed Marta Escalante Pérez and her fellow students collaborated to draft the habeas corpus petition which they filed March 20. A federal judge in Washington ordered her release last month, April 14.

Ms. Pérez was arrested, along with other Woodburn farmworkers, on Aug. 7, 2025, after federal immigration officers stopped the van they were in on their way to work at a Canby blueberry farm, smashing its window.

“DHS arrested and detained Marta not for anything particular about her, but because they had a detention quota to meet,” said Stephen Manning. “Today a federal court agreed that separating a mother away from her children to fill a detention bed is cruel, unnecessary, and illegal.”

The Statesman Journal published an extensive story on her arrest and the Judge’s ruling in an April 15 story.

The students worked on five petitions for habeas corpus for Oregonians unlawfully detained by ICE. The federal court granted two more petitions after the Peréz victory. The students are waiting for decisions on the final two petitions.

“The students collaborated to develop the petition and explore different avenues for relief,” said Professor Juliet Stumpf. “Stephen and I are very proud of their work. We developed this practicum for students to have a uniquely impactful learning experience with real world consequences, and to have that now, before they graduate. This is the work that matters.”