Ten University of Maine Law School students are providing volunteer legal help to immigrant and refugee women held at a federal detention center in Texas.

The students are enrolled in Maine Law's Refugee and Human Rights Clinic, and several already have made the trip to Laredo, Texas. More will go in January.

The law students perform a range of duties, including intake interviews and case reviews, along with filing of emergency stays on deportation orders.

Professor Anna Welch says the majority of the women are fleeing violence, rape, poverty and other horrific circumstances. She says the students aim to ensure they're treated fairly and that their due process rights are upheld.