Inaugural Border Justice Fellows Bring Excellent Success
July 27, 2024
Thanks to the generosity and support of the iMagis Foundation, the UNM School of Law successfully launched two Fellowships in the fall of 2022. Now, nearly three years later, the iMagis Fellow, Jorge Rodriguez, and the Border Justice Medical Legal Fellow enabled by the seed funding, Ari Burks, are nearing the completion of their fellowships and report exciting results.
During his fellowship, Jorge Rodriguez has worked at two nonprofit organizations serving immigrants at the border. At Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, he handled a wide range of cases from asylum and removal defense to Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) cases and Visa Petitions. At Estrella Del Paso he directly served clients in the Removal Unit and was successful in preventing the deportations of many clients. Jorge describes his own work as protecting the safety and dignity of immigrants as they work together towards “family reunification”
Jorge said of his time in the fellowship that he has realized “we should focus on the fact that these are just individuals that need help . . . The way we treat individuals in need reflects a lot about who we are as individuals.” As he nears the termination of his fellowship, Jorge recognizes the unique experience provided by the UNM School of Law and the Border Justice initiative; “UNMSOL is providing excellent opportunities for individuals to work with attorneys.” Jorge, as a direct result of his fellowship opportunity plans to be hired on to Estrella Del Paso and continue working in their Removal Unit following the expiration of his fellowship in September 2024.
Ari Burks, the Border Justice Medical Legal Fellow, served in Albuquerque, interviewing clients, securing Cuban Adjustment, co-counseling with Jorge, supervising and co-teaching In the UNM School of Law’s Border Justice Initiative and Clinic. During her time as a fellow, Ari has provided full scale representation for over thirty clients in cases including removal defense, family-based immigration and humanitarian forms of relief. Ari said of her experience, “it has been a valuable opportunity working with immigrants in our community. My caseload has included representation for individuals and families from over ten countries and innumerable backgrounds. I have also valued the opportunity to continue working with law students and sharing my knowledge with them as I myself continue to learn in this everchanging legal field.”
Following the end of her fellowship in September, 2024, Ari plans to continue working with immigrants in the community as she works to defend their rights through the legal process.
Due to the success of these inaugural fellows, the Border Justice Initiative opened another fellowship in the fall of 2023. Mark Moreno, the third fellow in the program, has spent the past year working at the Santa Fe Dreamers Project where he works on a variety of cases and recently scored a big victory by winning a Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim case for a detained transgender immigrant client in Colorado.
The UNM School of Law and the Border Justice Initiative thank the generosity of the Imagis Foundation and other donors for the opportunities to place these excellent fellows in thriving environments as they continue to serve our vastly underserved community. In Continuing with its mission, the Border Justice Initiative has already named new fellows that will replace Ari and Jorge and who will benefit greatly from their groundbreaking work.
