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| | Then the follow-up,
“So what does that mean you do every day?”. |
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< | In the future, I’ll have an answer with the specifics – whether I work with kids, survivors of gender-based violence, detained or non-detained adults – but the underlying theme of the answer will be the same: |
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> | In the future, I’ll have an answer with the specifics – whether I work with kids, survivors of gender-based violence, or detained or non-detained adults – but the underlying theme of the answer will be the same: |
| | “I help clients navigate the legal system in a variety of ways, including full representation, know-your-rights sessions, or just answering their questions. But I also work on immigration reform initiatives.” |
| | It’s either “Wow, that’s really cool/hard/powerful/important work. I could never do it.” And then we move on.
Or |
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< | *
“Wow, how did you get into that work?” |
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< | Which opens the door for my “why”?* |
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> | *_Wow, how did you get into that work?; |
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< | My “why” starts in a classroom at the University of Puget Sound my junior year of college. It’s called Politics of Detention: Criminal Justice, Immigration, and War on Terror. The class leads to a semester internship with Northwest Immigrants’ Rights Project (NWIRP), where I get my first introduction to what my future would look like if I were to work in immigration. The work is hard, and I don’t know how to handle hearing client stories, but I’m learning every day and it’s getting better. As I work with clients, the deep flaws in the system are so obvious and I’m starting actively listen to conversations about reform, advocacy, and abolition. But I’m so focused on the day-to-day client work, I don’t get too involved. I stay at NWIRP for another 1.5 years. |
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> | Which opens the door for my why?__* |
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< | The time comes for a post-grad job, and I move to New York City to work as a policy legal assistant at Her Justice. As a legal assistant, I work with survivors of gender-based violence to help them find immigration relief. We write declarations, write affidavits, and file applications. It’s a lot like the work I was doing at NWIRP and I’m still enjoying it. What makes my time at Her Justice transformational was the part of my job dedicated to policy work. I took what I was learning in client interactions and brought them to the policy team as areas for reform. Now, I was part of conversations about the flaws in the system and what we could do about them. While my organization was committed to reform, I sought out conversations about abolishing ICE and detention centers. I spoke to people about why they were doing this work and learned so much from them. |
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> | My “why” starts in a classroom at the University of Puget Sound. It’s called Politics of Detention: Criminal Justice, Immigration, and War on Terror. The class leads to a semester internship with Northwest Immigrants’ Rights Project (NWIRP), where I see what my future would look like if I were to work in immigration. The work is hard, and I don’t know how to handle hearing client stories, but I’m learning every day and it’s getting better. As I work with clients, the deep flaws in the system are so obvious and I’m starting actively listen to conversations about reform, advocacy, and abolition. But I’m so focused on the day-to-day client work, I don’t get too involved. I stay at NWIRP for another 1.5 years. |
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< | In my split role, I saw the value of existing in both worlds. My client work showed me the real-life impact of systemic flaws and my policy work gave me an avenue to address those flaws instead of just being stuck in the reality of them. When the policy work got frustrating, the “why” was usually my next meeting. A client stuck in a system that treated them like a number instead of a person. My “why” developed, and I was no longer just focused on representation, but I was starting to imagine what a new system could look like. |
>
> | Post-grad, I move to New York City to work as a policy legal assistant at Her Justice. As a legal assistant, I work with survivors of gender-based violence. We write declarations and file applications. I'm still liking my work and thinking about applying to law school. My role as a policy assistant shows me how client interaction can and should reform avenues for reform. I am part of conversations about how to fix areas of the system that directly harm my clients. While my organization was committed to reform, I sought out conversations about abolishing ICE and detention centers. I spoke to people about why they were doing this work and learned so much from them. |
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< | “So, there’s clearly a lot of problems, but how would we even fix them?” |
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> | My time at Her Justice showed me that my path forward is not only in policy or only direct services. Instead, it is a hybrid. I provide clients with quality legal services every day but I am also thinking about the big picture. I listen for patterns in client experiences and pinpoint areas of the system that are acutely failing, like the delay in obtaining a work permit, and tackle those issues head-on. |
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> | When the work feels impossible, I'm reminded of what a professor once said: Freedom begins with the knowledge that other futures are possible. I know a different future exists, where the system works, and I spend my career working towards it.
*So, there’s clearly a lot of problems, but it seems like Congress is totally stuck on this, right?*
To those who are casual observers of the news or the immigration system, it would seem like the current Congress is a
*So, what would you do?* |
| | This question makes me nervous. People look at me expectantly, searching for an answer to solve this huge crisis. From experience, I’ve learned few people are looking for a history lesson about how the U.S.-Mexico border in its current form came to be (See Revisionist History: General Chapman’s Last Stand). People want quick fixes. I’ll give an answer:
“Increase access to representation or develop a system that doesn’t actually need lawyers by simplifying forms.” |
| | We need to develop a system rooted in human dignity and understanding, and that is navigable regardless of background or education level. It’s a system that needs to be built by the people who have been impacted by it since they have seen firsthand the failings of the system as it stands today. It is a system that considers the whole person, the reason that they came to the U.S., and what they will contribute to this country. It does not leave people in limbo, in unsafe border towns, or locked in a cage because of the internal failings of the system. |
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< | Building this version of immigration won’t come easy, but it’s an essential process and one that I am excited to be a part of. As someone who has not been directly impacted by the system, I hope to use my legal education to support and amplify the voices of the people on the front lines of this fight, all the while providing quality representation to the people stuck in the system as it exists today. |
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> | Building this version of immigration won't come easy, but it's an essential process and one that I am excited to be a part of. As someone who has not been directly impacted by the system, I hope to use my legal education to support and amplify the voices of the people on the front lines of this fight, all the while providing quality representation to the people stuck in the system as it exists today. |
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< | A very successful rethinking of what to write about.
From the standpoint of execution, this draft could use some tightening. You often use two words or phrases where either one would do but you don't want to make a choice. These are the sorts of editorial ruthlessness it will help you very much to cultivate. |
| | On the substance of your statement it seems to me you can attain more clarity by starting with the political reasons that the two parties in Congress cannot actually deliver, and feel no political pressure to deliver, a working immigration system. If we being by reminding the reader precisely why nothing changes, we can ore easily convey the complexities of the subject without being immediately boxed in by the partisan fear structures. |