法律事件

公益澳门赌场官网在移民诊所接听法律帮助电话

2023年3月27日

杰里米·康拉德

From left to right: Seyfarth Shaw是Samantha Brooks的同事, 伊丽莎白Harraka, and Sean Lee.

3月11日，D.C. 酒吧 公益性服务 Center mobilized 25 volunteer attorneys to provide brief advice to area residents at the 移民法律咨询 & 咨询诊所. 总共, 87 people from 28 countries of origin received an assessment of their immigration options, as well as referrals to appropriate area resources to help them navigate this notoriously complex area of law.

Held quarterly at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, 这家诊所是独一无二的, 通常是情绪化的, coming together of District residents seeking legal help with their immigration-related problems and area attorneys who volunteer their time to provide free legal consultations.

Among the volunteers that Saturday was a group of associates from Seyfarth Shaw LLP — Samantha L. 布鲁克斯，伊丽莎白·哈拉卡和肖恩·李. All three work in areas of law that rarely involve individual clients or intersect with immigration law. 布鲁克斯是一名劳资方面的诉讼澳门赌场官网, Harraka代表公司处理建筑和商业诉讼, 李协助机构客户处理房地产事务.

“帮助那些真正需要帮助的人是件好事,布鲁克斯说, who volunteered at the immigration clinic for three years prior to the pandemic. 除了在诊所做志愿者, Brooks is handling a pro bono asylum case that will be heard later this year. 靠近她的驾驶室, she also assists local nonprofits with their labor and employment law issues.

“Seyfarth is a law firm that is deeply committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, and providing pro bono legal services to those in need and to nonprofits that serve [them] is one of the ways we honor that commitment,布鲁克斯说.

Harraka喜欢她在做志愿者时遇到的不同挑战. “I’m very removed from the personal [aspect of] the work that I do; this is a real change of pace,”她说。. Harraka, 同时也是退伍军人事务部的志愿者, said she finds it gratifying to help those whose struggles have gone unnoticed and unaddressed.

Lee was only recently admitted to practice law but has the advantage of personal insight into the struggles faced by people immigrating to the United States. “我7岁时从韩国来到美国. I was an immigrant, so I understand how frustrating the process can be,他说.

李太年轻，无法理解他的家庭所面临的官僚障碍, but in the intervening years he has come to appreciate the difficulties of navigating the U.S. 移民制度. 现在, Lee said he finds satisfaction in helping other families find a path forward in their immigration journeys. 他说:“这是一项有意义的工作，它可以影响一个人的生活。.

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP助理博士. 冯昊璐(哈里) also found himself reflecting on his own experiences while connecting with clients at the immigration clinic.

“从很多标准来看，我自己也是少数族裔. I am an immigrant, I am Asian, and I am a first generation in so many things in my family. 这就是为什么我特别关注我的小组成员. 我感觉到了. 我很高兴我在移民诊所做志愿者,冯说。, who also volunteered as a surveyor for Asian voters on Election Day last year.

Feng perceives a common thread between the concerns of clients at the immigration clinic and those he served through the D.C. 大流行期间酒吧公益中心的房东租户资源中心. “Many of the difficulties for minority groups are the same [as] the ones faced by the tenants I served: a barrier to access information and resources. The barrier could be language, status, non-inclusiveness, and many other things,他说.

“In some cases, I never expected that a 30-minute conversation could be so powerful. 这是一个让我为我的职业感到骄傲的黄金时刻. 让我惊讶的是，赋予权力的代价如此之小, but it is also a sting to me that so many things should have been done but have not been done. 那种骄傲和不公正的情结驱使着我继续做下去。.

Although his intellectual property practice involves entirely different legal codes and client concerns, Feng said that volunteering still provides him with personal and professional benefits. “I believe [that] being a community member means [going] beyond only living in it. So, 对我来说，自愿做我做过的事情是很自然的, 尤其是对那些不在聚光灯下的人,他说.

“帮助他们不仅是在帮助我的社区, but also a reminder for me that I should not be complacent about being a problem solver as my career. 在很多情况下，我应该更加努力地避免问题.”

凯利海王星, 公益中心的执行董事, 一整天都和志愿者一起工作. Neptune also considered the importance of enacting personal values through pro bono efforts. “One of the reasons I volunteer is the same reason I decided to become a public interest lawyer — to be of service to clients. +, I like working with my 公益性服务 Center team and our partner volunteers and mentors,海王星说.

“In my role as executive director, I proselytize about the benefits of pro bono volunteerism. 如果没有亲身经历，我是做不到的。.

在诊所, a team of mentors — attorneys with extensive experience in immigration law — reviewed the volunteers’ initial determinations to ensure that clients were properly assessed and directed to the appropriate resources. 那个周六在场的导师之一是Shayan Davoudi, HIAS的移民事务澳门赌场官网 and D.C. 酒吧的秘书.

“The [clinic] is a tremendous community service and a true testament to the [公益性服务] Center’s leadership and tireless dedication to supporting under-resourced communities,达武第说.

Jenadee Nanini, 公益性服务 Center managing attorney, said it is evident that the need is great. “我们确保客户带着回答过的问题离开, 免费法律咨询, 以及重要的推荐, 合法的和不合法的, 基于他们的需求. 我们知道我们不能代表每一个当事人, but we can listen to each person and make sure they are on the right track with their issue — big or small,纳尼尼说.