Lee Terán

Lee Terán

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Collection

Center for Legal and Social Justice (CLSJ)

Contributor

Parra, Gabriella; Terán, Lee; Vallejo, Valerie

Publication Date

4-17-2026

Description

Lee Terán explains what motivated her to pursue a career in immigration law and describes her early career in South Texas. She details her experience as part of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic at St. Mary’s School of Law, touching on the early days of the clinic, memorable cases she supervised, and projects she contributed to such as the DACA Clinic. Terán also explains how clinical education impacts law students and how the acquisition of the Center for Legal and Social Justice building benefited the clinics. She ends by illustrating the pressure modern immigration law puts on immigration clinics and the communities they support.

Biography

Lee Terán is a retired immigration attorney and professor of law at St. Mary’s University School of Law. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado in 1975. Terán practiced immigration law in South Texas before joining St. Mary’s as an adjunct professor of law in 1992. She worked as the Supervising Attorney for the Immigration Clinic until her retirement in 2017. Now, Terán focuses on supporting immigrants in her community of Western Colorado.

Interview Index

00:04 Lee Terán’s introduction    01:18 Lee’s early legal career     03:46 How Lee came to work at St. Mary’s School of Law    05:48 Lee’s time as Director of the Immigration Clinic    06:56 Lee’s teaching philosophy    07:56 Student interest in the Immigration Clinic    08:30 Common cases seen in the Immigration Clinic   11:27 Structure of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic    12:32 A memorable case from the Immigration Clinic    14:39 Immigration Clinic initiatives on the U.S/Mexico border    16:46 Transitioning into the Center for Legal and Social Justice building    21:23 The DACA Clinic     22:10 Collaboration with the Refugee Aid Project on asylum cases    23:50 Student impact of the Immigration Clinic    25:41 Modern challenges in immigration law 

Keywords

St. Mary’s University School of Law; Center for Legal and Social Justice; Immigration Clinic; Immigration and Human Rights Clinic; Immigration Law; Clinical Education; Student Impact

Size or Duration

15 pages; 38:46 minutes of audio and video

Format

MP4

Disciplines

Oral History

Lee Terán

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