UNL immigration clinic closing after 28 years, raising concerns over legal gap

LINCOLN, Neb. — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's immigration law clinic, which has provided free legal services and trained students for nearly three decades, will close at the end of the spring semester, a decision that advocates warn could leave vulnerable immigrant communities with fewer options as legal needs surge across Nebraska.

The clinic is shutting down after Kevin Ruser, the longtime director who founded the program in 1998, requested to step away to focus on classroom teaching. The law school is unable to find another faculty member willing to oversee the clinic, and budget constraints prevent hiring an additional professor to fill the role.

Ruser, who has taught at UNL since 1985, said the decision came down to personal circumstances and university finances. "I'm getting old," he explained, noting that while UNL is still paying his salary, the school cannot allocate resources to replace him.

The closure comes as UNL has weathered a series of difficult budget cuts and faculty reductions over the last year, intended to address a structural deficit. Two tenured professors at the law school accepted buyouts, forcing the institution to prioritize hiring replacements for required first-year courses.

The timing of the clinic's closure is particularly concerning given a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement. In the first 10 months of 2025, there was a 329% increase in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Nebraska, compared with the same period in 2024.

The clinic had become a critical resource, particularly for communities outside Omaha and Lincoln. During a March visit to North Platte, clinic students provided legal advice to 24 families in a single evening, operating where immigration attorneys are scarce. Law students served as both lawyers and interpreters, navigating complex cases involving deportation defense, visa petitions for crime victims, and cases involving neglected children.

The program provided a pathway for homegrown immigration attorneys in a state that struggles to attract out-of-state legal talent. Several attorneys practicing in Nebraska cited the clinic as formative to their careers.

"Every time an office that provides qualified immigration legal representation closes its doors and reduces the number of legal service providers available to take cases in Nebraska, it affects both the immigrant refugee community, and it affects us, the providers who are currently giving that service," said Roxanna Cortes-Mills, legal director at the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement.

The law school says it is working to develop alternative learning opportunities, including externship placements with local nonprofits and law firms. Ruser will continue teaching an immigration law survey course. But advocates and former students worry these alternatives cannot fully replicate the hands-on client work the clinic provided.