Now fluent in Spanish, I’ve always felt an obligation to be able to use the language to give back to Spanish-speaking communities. Therefore, when I graduated with honors from Rutgers University with a double major in Spanish and Political Science and a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, I began working at a nonprofit legal organization that helps immigrants apply for political asylum. Everything you’re seeing now on the news about immigration policies applied to the work I did daily.
Basically, to win a political asylum case, immigrants must prove two things: there is nowhere in their country that they could live safely and that, if forced to return, they will be in danger of being harmed or killed. At my job, I served as a translator, interpreter, and legal assistant. I would write affidavits, meaning that I would listen to a client’s entire life story (in Spanish) and write it all down (in English) and it would become the client’s sworn testimony for his or her asylum application. Most of my clients were from Central America, but more and more I was working on cases for clients from Venezuela. I was shocked about the conditions people were suffering there. All of the clients from Venezuela said that food and medicine are extremely scarce. The government is overwhelmingly corrupt and would pressure and intimidate working professionals to subscribe to their indoctrination. The situation has only worsened.
As part of my Fulbright Grant, I am conducting a social project to donate food and clothing to Venezuelan refugees who have fled to the coastal regions of Colombia. This work can be dangerous due to the areas in which most refugees are living. Therefore, I try to partner and assist other nonprofits.
