Each summer, EBCLC hosts 50 student interns from schools all over the country. We are showcasing the amazing work a few of them have accomplished during their short time at EBCLC!
Greg, a rising second year law student at UC Hastings, who trained with EBCLC’s Immigration Clinic this summer. Greg was excited to kickstart his legal career at EBCLC. “Because I am someone who belongs to the LGBTQ community, EBCLC’s mission statement really spoke to me. The fact that it is a priority to help underrepresented people, I thought, was brilliant,” he says.
Being a first-generation Peruvian-American motivated Greg to work in the Immigration Clinic, where worked on an asylum case for someone who, at the time, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“She was not able to live openly or pursue basic things everyone should be able to pursue,” says Greg about his client.
Greg’s advocacy for his client was instrumental to her release from detention. He successfully gained the cooperation of a local synagogue that agreed to sponsor his client and help fundraise for her bond case.
Through this experience working with other community members for the release of his client, Greg learned the meaning of community. He was pleased to see the generosity they showed him and his client.
“There are people out there that place a degree of value in being human, people who don’t care who you are, what you look like,” says Greg about his partnership with the local synagogue.
Greg never saw himself as a public interest lawyer but witnessing people’s generosity and willingness to work for others without expecting anything in return was inspiring for him. This fall, Greg will continue his advocacy through UC Hastings Immigrant’s Rights Clinic.