Written by: Athor Martinez, Caminos al Futuro 2022
My time at Caminos has been unforgettable. The most meaningful experience so far was our immigration clinic day. We first met our guest professor, Paulina Vera. She took us upstairs to a moot courtroom where we all sat in rows as if we were a part of a trial. I decided to sit at the council’s table with a couple of the students. She handed us a packet that had forms of relief from immigration removal and two different scenarios. We worked together to figure out who was eligible for what type of relief. Those exercises sparked creativity within all of our minds so that we could try and find solutions for people’s relief from removal. I felt entirely invested in this mock class because of my passion for the topic of immigration.
The GW Law School tour made me feel excited to see how many opportunities pro bono clinics offer. Professor Vera let us see where some of the high school and graduate students worked which inspired me to believe I could make changes regardless of my age. I’ve struggled with this internally because of the amount of adults that disregard opinions from people my age because of our youth and “inexperience”. We ended the tour with a visit to a much larger moot court room, where we all took pictures in the judge’s chair.
All of this reminded me that the help I give undocumented families and individuals in Oklahoma could also be done anywhere else in the country. I realized that all I want to do is help people, whether it was translating documents, volunteering at Know-Your-Rights and DACA clinics, or practicing law. It doesn’t matter as long as I am helping someone move forward in the US. I am willing to move across the country to continue to do that and fulfill my passions, my dreams and feel good about myself and the work. For all of this, I am willing to put blood, sweat, and tears into it.
Athor Martinez is a Caminos al Futuro 2022 scholar. Athor's views are his own and not necessarily reflective of the Cisneros Institute.