While patrolling the unpredictable streets of Houston with local law enforcement, I gained a unique perspective into the criminal justice system that inspired me to pursue a career in law. My drive to venture into the legal field early has allowed me to participate in two legal education programs in Texas and Florida. In the past five years I have worked at several law firms, including an immigration law firm where I wrote pardons for applicants, and assisted a former professor in helping a Salvadoran refugee get permanent asylum in the United States. Once I earn my bachelor’s degree in Journalism for investigative reporting, I will attend a premier law school and earn my Juris Doctor to embark on a career in immigration. Attending Universitat
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The law firms were situated in a large suite where I worked in different areas of law, including intellectual property, patent, employment, and immigration. Immigration law interested me the most because of my Salvadoran background and the political history of the United States denying Salvadorans asylum. Over 80,000 civilians were murdered in the Salvadoran Civil War, large in part because of the U.S. government’s $4.5 billion in funding to the military-led government of El Salvador. To strengthen my knowledge of the asylum process, I enrolled in a Latino migration course at the University of Texas at Austin. My ascension from student to asylum case assistant was made possible thanks to my professor, Alfonso Gonzales, who saw my passion and hard-work ethic for building legal cases. The tasks involved writing a declaration for an applicant fleeing persecution in El Salvador. The applicant, along with her daughter, was granted asylum on January 2017 based on our filings without having to hear any testimony. The judge ruled that sending back the applicant and her daughter would be a death sentence. I am proud of my involvement in helping this family. Working on this case allowed me to recognize my parent’s sacrifice in coming to the U.S. and becoming citizens where they continued to strive and provide for our
The law firms were situated in a large suite where I worked in different areas of law, including intellectual property, patent, employment, and immigration. Immigration law interested me the most because of my Salvadoran background and the political history of the United States denying Salvadorans asylum. Over 80,000 civilians were murdered in the Salvadoran Civil War, large in part because of the U.S. government’s $4.5 billion in funding to the military-led government of El Salvador. To strengthen my knowledge of the asylum process, I enrolled in a Latino migration course at the University of Texas at Austin. My ascension from student to asylum case assistant was made possible thanks to my professor, Alfonso Gonzales, who saw my passion and hard-work ethic for building legal cases. The tasks involved writing a declaration for an applicant fleeing persecution in El Salvador. The applicant, along with her daughter, was granted asylum on January 2017 based on our filings without having to hear any testimony. The judge ruled that sending back the applicant and her daughter would be a death sentence. I am proud of my involvement in helping this family. Working on this case allowed me to recognize my parent’s sacrifice in coming to the U.S. and becoming citizens where they continued to strive and provide for our