At the beginning of the summer, after completing my first year of law school I was eager and excited to join the team of lawyers and staff at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. The friendly faces I met assured me of the positive work environment and comradery in the office. My first week, I observed many different client intakes with the immigration and family advocacy legal teams. By Friday, I was attending the Tenants’ Clinic at Fair Oaks Community Center to work with the Housing team to help defend tenants in fear of eviction. That initial week immediately opened my eyes to the daily work of lawyers at Legal Aid: community service. I noticed all the lawyers were asked a lot of questions and were really listening to their clients to better understand how to help them.
Soon after, I followed Jenny and Dana to probate court where Jenny represented a young boy from El Salvador at a guardianship hearing and was granted a continuance for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Dana showed me around the courthouse as she filed guardianship paperwork for a young boy who left Guatemala for a better life here in the States. Over the next couple of weeks, I worked closely with real people dealing with real problems in their legal status, housing situation, healthcare resources, and everyday lives. The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County finds a voice for these underserved members of community by helping connect clients to resources and finding legal solutions to improve their quality of life.
With families being torn apart at the border, frequent ICE raids across the country, and changes in legal relief, it was exciting and motivational for me to work on the ground with the immigrant community here in San Mateo County amidst the current administration’s anti-immigrant culture. I have enjoyed working to better the lives of these people who are victimized because not only are they underrepresented, but I believe they deserve the same basic opportunities and access to resources as others. Many of the people who come through our doors are hard-working mothers and fathers trying to raise a family here in hopes of a better future for their children. Sometimes they are young educated adults like me, but who happened to be born in a foreign country despite having only known America as home.
The Legal Aid Society not only works to solve legal issues for immigrants and mixed families that come into our office, but also participates in events around the community to raise awareness and spread accurate information to empower the community. It was this type of work that kept me eager and excited to come into work every day at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and an invaluable experience that has helped shape me as a future lawyer.