Emily Arthur, 2L
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Texas
I
thought I’d take some time to update you on the first half of my summer. I spent the past six weeks interning at a
small nonprofit in El Paso, TX. It was
called Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and I couldn’t be happier with
my experience there!
The
first week was an orientation to immigration law and El Paso/Juarez in
general. Having already taken
immigration law and participated in the practicum, I was ready to jump right
in. But I was interested to see the
nuances of living on a border town and how that affects the immigration
process. We spent the first few days
learning about the main types of services Las Americas provides. We had sessions on the Violence Against Women
Act, Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, U-Visas, and Asylum. We also had sessions on how the case system
was managed and other office research systems.
On Friday of the first week, we went on a tour of the border. We started out by driving up on the mountain
and looking out over the cities. It was
so interesting because, unless you look really closely, it appears to be one
big city. We then drove to a part of New
Mexico where the border is lined with a chain link fence. Down closer to where Texas and Mexico meet
New Mexico, there is no fence at all.
Customs and Border Patrol watch as people from both countries walk up to
a white monument. I literally had one
foot in Mexico and one foot in the United States. It was very interesting. Finally, we ended the tour by seeing the
massive fence that runs along the border through the downtown areas and by
driving past the bridges that connect the two countries.
I was
assigned to work under the managing attorney at Las Americas. She mainly did asylum work and so that’s how
I spent my six weeks there. I filled out
applications, researched country conditions, drafted motions, wrote letters to
congressmen, and so many other things. I
also got to write an appellate brief for a Convention Against Torture claim for
a client from El Salvador. I had clients
from Mexico, Nigeria, and Somalia as well.
I helped to develop strategies for the asylum cases that were heading to
court and compiled exhibits. In addition
to the office work, I often got to go to immigration court and the detainment
center. Nearly all of my clients were
detained and so the court is right inside the detainment center. I also got to help interview clients. One week, I even got to attend a meeting at
the Mexican Consulate. I thoroughly
enjoyed everything I did there. The staff
was so nice and I loved the environment.
It was a very close, energetic place.
It really solidified for me that this is the type of law I want to
pursue.
About
two weeks into my internship, something interesting began to happen in El
Paso. South Texas has been completely
overwhelmed with the amount of immigrants crossing over the border. They began to send plane loads of people to
El Paso. Our first week, we got a plane
of 270 people. Annunciation House, a
local nonprofit that serves the homeless immigrants, decided that the community
needed to help. The planes would arrive,
ICE would process the immigrants, and then release them on their own
recognizance. This meant that they would
be able to await their court dates from outside the detainment center. After that, ICE would drive the immigrants to
wherever we were located. Annunciation
House rallied together all sorts of nonprofits, churches, and everyday citizens
in an effort to keep these immigrants off the streets. I volunteered there often after work.
When
the immigrants were dropped off, we would take them in and register them. We would provide them with clothing and food
and a place to sleep and shower.
Volunteers would sit down with them and find out where they were
heading. They would call family members
to let them know they were alright and waiting in El Paso. The family members would then purchase
tickets for their family to come join them.
The immigrants would then be moved to a different room where other
volunteers would call local El Pasoans to help drive them to the bus stations
or airport. I spent my first few days
volunteering by arranging transport to the stations.
After
that, I began translating for the medical team.
We had a doctor, nurse, or medical student on site nearly all the
time. I would get the story from the
immigrants, inform the doctors, and tell the patients what was happening. I would help take temperatures and give
medicine. It was so sad to see how sick
everyone was after walking for days through the desert and then spending time
in cold concrete cells in the detainment center.
All in
all, in my time there we probably took in close to 1,000 immigrants! The volunteer experience was amazing and I
can’t believe I got to be a part of something so current and relevant to the
type of law I want to pursue.
In my
free time, I traveled to Juarez several times, went hiking in New Mexico, and
hung out with new friends that I made.
El Paso was amazing and I totally recommend this internship in the
future.
Thanks, friends!
Emily
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