In college I interned in the Immigration Services Department of the International Rescue Committee assisting refugees with various immigration applications and helping them settle into their new lives in Charlottesville, Va. My favorite family was from Burma. They had a young child named Sa Pwa Nan who would terrorize our office by carrying around the welcome bell and ringing it incessantly. For some reason, though, when she saw me she would calm down. I don't really know why; I couldn't communicate with her because she didn't know English. She was probably just scared of the BFG. It was even harder to get her to smile, but when she did she lit up the room....
If you remember, a couple weeks ago I wrote that in the fall I wanted to start having lunch down at the Malibu Labor Exchange once a week in order to get to know the day laborers and practice my Spanish. Well, last Saturday when I dropped sandwiches off at the MCLE I decided I couldn't wait until the fall; I told Oscar, the manager, that I would come on Tuesday. So today I made two lunches and drove over to the MCLE at noon.
When I got there, Oscar paired me up with a lady from Peru and we went outside to a picnic table to eat. Just to be safe, I'm not going to use her name. Until recently, she had been working as a nanny for nearly 10 years. She came to the MCLE to look for new work; I'm pretty sure she didn't come to the MCLE expecting to share lunch with a guy like me, but I think she enjoyed it. She was very patient as my Spanish started coming back to me. We talked about her family and previous life in Peru and why she came to the U.S. It turns out that she taught Spanish grammar when she was still in Peru, so she was the perfect person for me to have lunch with today. At one point she asked me what I'm studying at school and I told her that I'm studying Immigration law. She got nervous and looked away for a moment. I couldn't understand everything she said about her immigration status, but from what I could gather her legal status is questionable. She said she would have to go back to Peru in a few months if she isn't able to find any work.
Despite the fact that she seemed a little worried at first about my involvement with immigration, that fear was quickly diffused. I told her about my work downtown at an immigration defense firm to assure her that I wasn't out to get her. We got to laughing when I told her that in 10th grade I accidentally told my Spanish 2 teacher that her dress was "fea" in front of the entire class. "Fea" means ugly. She got a kick out of that.
I opened with the story of Sa Pwa Nan because I love connecting with people and being a friendly face. If I helped my new amiga from Peru forget about her struggles for an hour then my time spent at the MCLE today was worthwhile. It was such a pleasure practicing my Spanish, helping her with her English, and getting to know her story. I'm excited about what these lunches will teach me and where they will take me.
While I was at lunch today the interim executive director happened to stop by the office trailer. She came over to the table to inquire about what we were doing. She really liked it and asked me if I would help her plan a fundraiser in the fall for the MCLE. We'll be trying to put together a showing of "A Better Life" at Pepperdine's undergrad campus with the director, Chris Weitz. I can't wait to help.
It's been a great summer so far learning about immigration law through working at the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman two days a week. I've received a lot of good feedback and I've been placed on really interesting assignments, including research, motions, and applications for citizenship and adjustment of status (green card). The other days I spend working for Judge Einhorn. I've met with Asylum Clinic clients and researched about domestic violence in Guatemala. Right now, the other research assistants and I are helping Judge Einhorn draft chapters for a book about the basics of immigration law for criminal attorneys whose clients get picked up by immigration officials through the Secure Communities Program. It's really interesting stuff. I'm extremely privileged to be working for Mr. Shusterman and Judge Einhorn; they are both well respected professionals in immigration circles. Mostly, though, I'm glad to be working in immigration law this summer because I get to interact with people who have amazing and sometimes quirky stories. It certainly doesn't feel like work.
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