Full Time Faculty

SABRINA RIVERA

Assistant Clinical Professor of Law
Director, Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic

srivera@wsulaw.edu

DEGREES

J.D., Loyola Law School Los Angeles
B.A., California State University, Dominguez Hills

COURSES

Immigration Clinic and Advanced Immigration Clinic
Federal Immigration Habeas Clinic
Immigration Law
Interviewing & Counseling

BIOGRAPHY

Sabrina Rivera is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic at Western State College of Law (WSCL). She supervises law students who provide pro bono legal representation to immigrants in deportation proceedings and in community advocacy projects. Since joining WSCL, Professor Rivera has expanded the Clinic’s direct representation and litigation opportunities for students, including launching projects focused on immigration post-conviction relief and federal habeas litigation.

Professor Rivera’s practice and scholarship focus on immigration law, pro se advocacy, deportation defense, immigration detention, and federal litigation. Throughout her career, she has advocated for immigrant communities and worked to expand access to legal information and representation for detained pro se litigants.

Before joining the WSCL faculty, Professor Rivera held various roles within immigrant rights organizations, including serving as the inaugural executive director of Orange County Justice Fund, where she worked to expand access to legal services for community members facing deportation. She previously served as a supervising attorney at Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) where she directly represented college students and their families on their immigration cases and helped establish immigration legal services at eight California State University campuses throughout Southern California. Professor Rivera also served as the former clinical staff attorney at WSCL’s Immigration Clinic and as an Adjunct Lecturer at UCI Law, Immigrant Rights Clinic, where she supervised law students on bond cases and community legal empowerment presentations.

Professor Rivera is also a speaker at local and national trainings, workshops, and conferences. Her article, Barefoot Justice for Pro Se Litigants in Removal Proceedings, was published in the UIC Law Review. She is also the co-author of the report, The State of Immigration Enforcement and Legal Resources in Orange County published in May 2023 that was highlighted
on various media outlets.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

Defending Access to Counsel in Deportation Emergencies, Presenter, Immigration Law Teachers and Scholars Workshop, Duke University School of Law, Durham, NC, June 2026.

Know Your Rights, Presenter (in Spanish language), Garden Grove Unified School District, Garden Grove, CA, July 17, 2025.

Immigration Townhall, Panelist, City of Long Beach Mayor’s Office and Partner Organizations, Long Beach, CA, December 2024.

Roundtable Discussion on Immigration-Related Legal Empowerment Alternatives in Orange County (online), Speaker, April 2023.

Finding Sustainability While Starting, Transforming, or Ending a Clinical Program, Panelist, Immigration Law Teachers & Scholars Workshop, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA, June 2022.

DisOrientation Retreat (Online), Keynote Speaker, National Lawyers Guild-Los Angeles, October 2021.

Immigration Changes & the Impact on Clients (Online), Guest Lecture, Department of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach, CA, September 2020.

Interviewing Workshop for Law Students, Panelist, Hispanic National Bar Association, Troutman Sanders LLP, Irvine, CA, April 2019.

Rule of Law in the Trump Administration, Panelist, 20th Anniversary Western Law Professors of Color/Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Professors Conference, UNLV School of Law, Las Vegas, NV, October 2018.

Immigration Enforcement and DACA, Panelist, Pacific Coast Association of Pre-Law Advisors Conference, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, June 2018.

Naming Our Core Values When Teaching and Lawyering in a Time of Crisis, Speaker, Association of American Law Schools, Conference on Clinical Education, Chicago, IL, April 2018.

U Visa Certification Challenges, Panelist, ASISTA County-Wide Training for legal service providers and attorneys, Anaheim, CA, February 2017.