Week 2:
Career Confirmation

June 21, 2020

Wow! My experience in Austin so far has been amazing and I am learning so much. The experiences I have already had in these past two weeks are really assuring that this is the career path I want to take to being an immigration attorney. Everyone in the office has been so kind and open to me asking questions and explaining things to me. I am feeling more comfortable in the office as everyday passes and my name has even been added to our weekly agenda list for me to put things down! Big steps. 

Before I explain more about my time in Austin and everything I am doing I think it is important to understand what Justice for Our Neighbors is. Justice for Our Neighbors, also known as JFON, is a non-profit organization that gives immigration services to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers at low-cost or for free. There are 18 JFON sites across the US in 15 states and it is ever expanding. JFON also offers educational seminars about immigration. JFON was founded through the Methodist Church, but one does not have to be religious to receive aid from them. 

From that quick explanation you can see that we accept all kinds of clients who all have different backgrounds. Because we accept so many cases I have been able to learn about the in’s and outs of many different immigration scenarios. I have learned about green card applications, DACA renewals, asylum seeker applications, and more. There is so much to learn about immigration law and all the in’s and out’s and I am looking forward to getting to learn more about it as the weeks continue. 

This past week I focused on mainly one case working side by side with the attorney at Austin JFON. I was doing research for the case, research that the attorney will present to a judge at immigration court! After I finished all the research I was able to help create a supporting documents index where all the sources I found are cited. Afterwards, the attorney was very grateful and explained how much of a help I was which made me realize that I am actually doing something for the firm and helping in immigration cases, which is a surreal experience. 

Besides my internship I have been going on daily walks, studying for the LSAT, and reading. I have finally found a good route for my morning walks which is a relief because for a while I was just looping around the same block! My roommate and I had plans to go hiking but it rained so we could not. Hopefully next week I get to see a bit more nature of Austin.