I hope to gain so much knowledge and experience from this internship. During my freshman year, as an uncertain biology student, I decided to take a first-year seminar that really intrigued me: Immigration Experience in the United States. We read a book, titled Enrique’s Journey, and it struck me hard. I read about his various deportations, his horrible struggles as a child simply trying to find his mother in the United States. How could we treat people, especially unaccompanied minors, in such a way? This class changed the course of my life; from it, I decided that I needed to help fix this problem and help immigrants who are in the process of removal proceedings to win their fight. When I found my internship, I was thrilled; I would get to use the Spanish I had learned over the past 15 years and get to learn more of the legal aspect and ramifications of immigration. During my internship, I hope to learn more about the Violence Against Women Act (for victims of domestic violence), U Visas (for victims of crime), and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (for unaccompanied minors) as well as the evidence needed to win these types of cases. I believe that this internship will be even more life-changing than my first-year seminar as it will be a small taste of what it will be like to be a lawyer and will give me the skills needed to become an excellent immigration lawyer and advocate for immigrants.
Kylie Mignat
International Studies