Michelle Martínez (’14), Fellow in BU Law’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, Receives Department of Justice Attorney General’s Honors Fellowship

The Class of 2014 grad will join the Executive Office for Immigration Review as part of her DOJ fellowship.

In the summer of 2009, (Dianna) Michelle Martínez (’14) interned for the New York Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau. In that role, she helped immigrants who had been defrauded by immigration service scams. “I spoke with hundreds of people who had been taken advantage of in their efforts to navigate a complicated immigration system,” Martínez says. “After that, I was determined to work in immigration law to provide the kind of counsel and advocacy that this community needs.”

When she began applying to law schools, BU Law’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC) and many pro bono opportunities made it a natural choice.

Martínez began participating in the IRC her 2L year as a student attorney. She returned as a research assistant during her 3L year, and following graduation, received a BU Law Public Service Fellowship to continue her work with the clinic as a legal fellow. “I became so invested in so many of my clients’ cases that I wanted the opportunity to continue working with them for an additional year,” Martínez says.

In addition to the IRC, Martínez participated in a pro bono spring break trip to Harlingen, Texas, where she worked with children who had recently crossed the border and been placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. She participated in Know Your Rights presentations to inform immigrant children of their rights under the law, and helped prepare two young children for their probate court hearings.

“The courses I took at BU Law, as well as the clinical experiences, pro bono trips, and other extracurricular activities, provided me with a great foundation as I pursued a career in immigration law,” Martínez says. “And the Public Service Fellowship has provided me with the opportunity to continue developing my advocacy skills.”

As a legal fellow, Martínez has been able to see to conclusion many of the cases she began working on as a 2L, while taking on new cases and gaining further hands-on experience. “My very first client as a student attorney was an Ecuadorian woman who had endured years of domestic abuse,” she says. “She finally received her U Visa in October 2014, and it was such a rewarding experience to be able to tell her—after years of waiting and several challenges along the way—that we had finally succeeded.”

With a current caseload of roughly 21 clients, all at different stages in their immigration cases, Martínez notes that each day with the IRC is different for her. On any given day she may be meeting with clients; calling doctors, academics, or other experts to provide expert declarations or other supporting materials for cases; researching country conditions; communicating with foreign agencies or criminal defense attorneys; or drafting briefs or legal memos.

Since the fellowship began in September, Martínez has represented two disabled children in their asylum interviews and a young Guatemalan woman at her adjustment interview with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. In June, she will represent a Somali woman in a defensive asylum hearing before the Boston Immigration Court.

“The fellowship with the IRC has provided me with extensive, hands-on experiences that have helped make me a stronger advocate,” she says. “I have a great support system at the clinic—Judi Diamond, Laila Hlass, and Sarah Sherman-Stokes have been fantastic mentors, and I’m very appreciative of how much they’ve contributed to my growth as a young attorney. I couldn’t imagine having a better support system during my first year as a practicing immigration attorney.”

The position has become a launching pad to other opportunities: she recently was awarded a Department of Justice Attorney General’s Honors Fellowship, the largest and most prestigious federal entry-level attorney-hiring program of its kind. After she completes the fellowship with the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic in late August, Martínez will begin a two-year clerkship with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in New York City as part of her fellowship. With the EOIR she will conduct legal research and draft bench memos and decisions for New York Immigration Court judges.

“The New York Immigration Court has one of the largest caseloads, nationwide,” Martínez says. “I’m confident that the clerkship will help me learn about other areas of immigration law that I haven’t yet experienced, and make me a better, more well-rounded advocate for immigrant communities.”

Looking to the future, Martínez plans to continue to advocate for immigrants’ rights. “My goal is to be an immigration attorney and to work for a legal services organization in either Boston or New York City,” she says. “I find this work exceptionally rewarding, whether it is counseling immigrants about available forms of relief or telling a client that his or her application has been approved.”

BU Law student Kate Lebeaux (’15) has also received a 2015 DOJ Attorney General’s Honors Fellowship.