Written by: Summer Intern Emmy Tinkham

This summer ILAP hosted three summer interns – two through our new Racial Justice Fellowship program and one through the Goodwill VISTA Summer Associates program. These internships allow students to learn about ILAP’s work while supporting the Maine immigrant community.

My name is Emmy, and this summer I served in the Development and Communications Office at ILAP as an intern through AmeriCorps VISTA. One of my assignments was to write this article about the summer intern experiences at ILAP.

About Ilap’s Racial Justice Fellowship Program

The Racial Justice Fellowship is ILAP’s new paid internship opportunity for law school students who identify as immigrants or having lived immigrant experience. It recognizes and compensates Fellows for the skills, expertise, and perspectives they bring to ILAP, and seeks to address the underrepresentation of immigrants in the legal profession by providing a pathway to pursue a future career in immigration legal services. The pilot was supported by a grant from the Maine Justice Foundation’s Racial Justice Fund.

ILAP welcomed Abby Khanal and Paula Esteves as the inaugural 2023 Racial Justice Fellows.

Meet Abby

When Abby was 12 years old, her family relocated from Nepal to Virginia. The process of gaining status here in the U.S was long and difficult for her family. This was partly due to the lawyers they had. Abby got her undergraduate degree in computer science. After getting a job related to that field, she realized her passion for it was starting to fade. She realized that she wanted to do something that would help families. She wanted to become the immigration lawyer she wished her family had, so their transition would have been easier.

During Abby’s 10-week internship at ILAP, she learned about full representation. During one of her weeks, she worked on putting together the index deck of evidence for gender-based violence in Honduras and how the conditions in the country impact asylum. An index deck of evidence makes it easier for immigration courts and other necessary authorities to find the appropriate documents fast. She also helped write the declaration for the case, which is a crucial part of the index deck of evidence. The declaration supports the asylum seeker’s claims of persecution and their need for protection.

During another week, Abby filed paperwork for a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) case. SIJS is a type of immigration relief offered to people under 21 that have been subjected to abuse, neglect, or abandonment by their parents.

This year will be Abby’s second year of law school at Pennsylvania State University. All the work she did at ILAP will help her when she participates at the immigration clinic at school.

Meet Paula

Paula is a Brazilian foreign national who moved to the U.S. when she was 15 and became a citizen when she was 18. Paula went to the University of Pittsburg for undergrad and majored in Political Science and African Studies. She also got her master's in international relations and a certificate in Business Law before moving to Maine for law school. She’s moved many times in her life but found a deep feeling of home in Maine that will keep her here for a long time—and one that she wants to share with all her clients.

Paula’s favorite thing she did during her fellowship at ILAP was help launch the Asylum Assistance & Legal Orientation Project’s (AALOP) pro se workshops. She feels she got the opportunity to work with the most amazing lawyers - learning new things everyday about the I-589 and the many quirks of immigration court - and was happy to have met the most impressive people, help them properly file for asylum, and get their U.S. journey started. She’s so grateful to have been a small part of it because it’s exactly what the immigrant community needs most.

“The cherries on top of the whipped cream of the AALOP workshops, though, were definitely the attorneys in charge of the project, Catherine Lindgren and Jennifer Bailey,” said Paula. “They are my upmost inspiration for everything immigration law, and I treasured every moment I got to spend laughing and learning from them.”

Paula started her third year at the University of Maine School of Law and is working in its Refugee & Human Rights Clinic. She is excited to also join ILAP as a part-time staff member to support the AALOP workshops!

Meet Emmy

EMMY TINKHAM

AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate

This past June, I graduated from Cheverus High School. I wanted to intern at ILAP because I am an immigrant myself, born in Ethiopia.  Also, many of my friends and acquaintances are immigrants, so I have a front row seat to the struggle.  My mom worked with Senator Collins’ office to assist immigrants with their paperwork and my dad sponsored immigrant families from Afghanistan fleeing the Taliban.

This summer, I spent 8 weeks interning at ILAP. My first project was creating a timeline about ILAP’s history to celebrate the 30th anniversary. This taught me about how ILAP has changed people’s lives, and their impact on the community. I learned that ILAP helps over 3,000 people a year by providing legal assistance for immigrants and their families. They also provide outreach workshops to help even more people.

As part of my internship, I attended an asylum workshop for immigrants. The workshop series is offered monthly in different languages and allows immigrants to learn about the asylum process. For example, we learned that to be eligible for asylum a person must have a fear of persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or their inclusion in a particular social group. The workshop also covered how some people pretend to help with immigration cases but don’t have the legal training necessary and can hurt immigration cases.

One thing that stuck with me is when the attorney giving the workshop encouraged the attendees to tell their stories, “Everyone has a story, and you wouldn’t have made this journey if your story wasn’t worth sharing.” At the end of the workshop, the asylum seekers worked with volunteer attorneys and interpreters to fill out and file their paperwork.

This fall, I’m attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice as a Freshman where I’ll be majoring in Law and Society. I will be living in New York City and looking for opportunities to continue my experiences in immigration advocacy.

About the AmeriCorps VISTA Program

AmeriCorps VISTA is a nationwide service program that aims to reduce poverty and the Goodwill VISTA Partnership operates service locations across Maine and New Hampshire.

VISTA members sign up to serve at host sites for full time yearlong or summer positions while earning a biweekly stipend. They learn about the nonprofit and how it tries to reduce poverty and help in the communities. At the end of a member’s term, they receive the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to take a step toward their higher education goals. Learn more about the Goodwill VISTA Partnership here!

Read the full newsletter

Meet ILAP's 2023 Summer Interns