Worcester State University
Making a Difference, Together
In partnership with Worcester State University (WSU) and the Urban Action Institute, SCIJ and WSU are empowering students to advocate for immigrant justice and social change.
How it Works
Training Program
Students enrolled at Worcester State University join SCIJ’s Law & Immigration Training Program during the fall semester. SCIJ’s training program engages students in gaining a broad overview of immigration law so they’re prepared to provide legal services to immigrants, learning about the history and systemic issues with US immigration, and building skills in community organizing and advocacy.
Remote Representation
After completing SCIJ’s training program, students provide remote legal assistance to asylum seekers through SCIJ’s partnerships with Innovation Law Lab and Al Otro Lado.
Direct Representation
After students have completed at least two remote cases and gained experience in intake and case development, they will work in their own communities with our partner immigration attorneys to provide direct legal representation to local asylum seekers.
Community Organizing
As students work on cases, they will develop community organizing strategies with clients and local immigrant communities to advocate for issues important to them.
Get Involved
Is immigrant justice important to you? Do you come from an immigrant background? Interested in law or politics? Join the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice at Worcester State University and get trained so you can fight for immigrant justice and advocate for asylum seekers. Click below to contact us and get involved.
Learn More About SCIJ’s Program at WSU
Professor Adam Saltsman
WSU Assistant Professor, Director of the Urban Action Institute
“Through this partnership, WSU students gain the skills they need to take their advocacy and social justice work on immigrant rights to the next level, to support individuals seeking asylum in our community, and to be part of a broader movement for social change."
Meet the Team at WSU
Class of 2022
+Alda Ushe
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
During this time when the immigration system is crisis, immigrants, refugees and asyulum seekrs should be treated with fairneess and digity. As a foreigner, I shall use my voice to speak out and up about immigraion issues that do not treat immigrants in humanly manners.
Favorite Quote
''There was no good reason to deny innocent people a safe place to live.” ― Nadia Murad, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State
+Kailey O'Connell (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice and liberation for immigrants is important to me because I believe everyone deserves a fair and equitable opportunity in the United States. People move to the US to escape war, violence and natural disasters. They seek refuge and safety for their families. All human beings deserve that right and should be allowed to seek those basic needs no matter where they originated. I would make a positive impact on this program and I want to accomplish gaining more experience in the justice system. I want to help and make a difference for others.
Favorite Quote
"Sometimes you won't know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." - Dr. Seuss
+Ghasak Abdulahad (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is a continuous movement to give people a chance at freedom, that is the most important too me.
Favorite Quote
"Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."- Benjamin Franklin
+Jaiza Rivera (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Honestly immigration has been here since before any of us and my parents are included in this too. My parents came here from Puerto Rico and even though Puerto Rico is a U.S territory they still migrated here from the island. Specifically my father when he was only fifteen after losing his mother. He decided to come to the states for a new beginning and so did my mother. They both came to the states to have a better opportunity and this is why immigrant justice and liberation is important not only to myself but it should be to others as well. One of the main reasons why immigrants do come here is to live the "American Dream" whether it be achieving a higher level of education, working to support their families back home, and or to achieve freedom. Freedom is one thing we take for granted. Justice in general is important, but immigrant justice and liberation combined is even more important!
Favorite Quote
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I- I took the road less traveled by & that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost
+Jennifer LaHair (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
I think everyone deserves the chance to start a life in a new place!
Favorite Quote
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take - Wayne Gretzky
+Phi Quach (He/Him/His)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
This is important to me because I come a family of refugees escaping from the Vietnam War. Being able to help those who fear everyday for their lives would be an accomplishment.
Favorite Quote
"Everything happens for a reason."
+Ryan Medeiros
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant Justice is important to me because my family immigrated from Portugal. I want to be able to help individual's get the access they need.
Favorite Quote
Pain is temporary regret is forever.
Class of 2021
+Yetzi Villegas (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is important to me because all families deserve to have a safe and secure life without fearing the deportation of their loved ones.
Favorite Quote
"Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others." Martin Luther King Jr
+Mustapha Dukuly (He/Him/His)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
The platform encourages young people to reach their full potential while also participating in volunteerism. I am ecstatic to be a part of such a wonderful community that is making significant contributions to breaking down many of the barriers erected by our unequal society, including advocating for asylum seekers like myself who are afraid of being persecuted or tortured if they return to their home countries. This, more than anything else, is the foundation of my desire to join and be a part of such a wonderful community.
Favorite Quote
"Life will hurl you sticks and stones at the most inconvenient times. This is the reality of life on Earth, and in order to thrive, we must be prepared anytime and in all places. We cannot dispute that our society has changed tremendously and that some people, like me, have been left in an unjust situation. This is where life's challenge begins." -Mustapha Dukuly
+Marisol Garcia (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigration justice is important to me because being the child of an immigrant, she taught me that you cannot walk away for your personal responsiblity to help others. The United States gave my mother a chance at a new life, as she gave me. Its time for me to pay it forward.
Favorite Quote
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi.
+Dedrick Baublitz Jr (He/Him/His)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrants need the help more than everyone. For everything they have sacrificed, we need to give back.
Favorite Quote
"To sit home, read one's favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is what evil men count upon the good men's doing." -Theodore Roosevelt
+Rukie Hoyt-Rouse (She/Her/Hers)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant Justice will break down barriers, and open doors nationally and internationally for those seeking protection. I strive to network within the community of social justice, and take the knowledge gained to actively create change.
Favorite Quote
"In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same." - Albert Einstein
+Bryan Escobar (He/Him/His)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
The United States' has continuously reaped the benefits of the hard work and culture that immigrants bring, and it is now time for all migrants to have an equal opportunity to enjoy the full potential of the American dream.
Favorite Quote
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
+Alfaysal Alfaris (He/Him/His)
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
As an immigrant and refugee myself I got to experience first hand the injustices that befall people who are forced to leave their country. Immigrant justice was a natural progression for me as I wanted to change the things that I experienced and the issues that faced me and immigrant communities around me.
Favorite Quote
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." -- Desmond Tutu
Class of 2020
+Esther Konadu (She/Her/Hers)
Major: Psychology with a Concentration in Mental Health Services
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice has long been under served and it is time for that to change. America is made up of immigrants and we should treat them with the respect and rights that they deserve.
Favorite Quote
"You can't dig a hole in the ground and bury your secret, and expect it to stay there. Someone will have heard it by then." - My great-grandmother
+Vincent Pellegrino (He/Him/His)
Major: Visual and Performing Arts, Political Science.
Minors: Geography, Pre-Law
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Our current system is broken and is rigged against those who need help from it the most. To protect our nation's founding principles we must fight to ensure everyone coming across our boarder knows their rights and are represented fairly.
Favorite Quote
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."- Mahatma Gandhi
+Gabrielle DeCosta (She/Her/Hers)
Major: Spanish
Minors: Pre-Law
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is important to me because I believe that everyone should be allowed to create better lives for themselves and find better opportunities.
Favorite Quote
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." -Henry David Thoreau
+Gina Endres
Major: History
Minors: Philosophy, Pre-Law
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is important to me because those who wish to better their life in America, should be given that opportunity. Unfortunately, what we're seeing is that without legal representation many immigration cases are dismissed and so this is a power in numbers sort of action which I am passionate to be part of.
Favorite Quote
"Never judge someone based on what they don't know because at one point you didn't know what you know today" -Malcolm X
+Gabby DeAngelis (She/Her/Hers)
Major: Communications
Minors: Theatre
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigration justice is important to me because the current systems in the United States are exceptionally broken. Everyones' story deserves to be heard.
Favorite Quote
"You can't wait for hope. You have to be hope." -Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
+Deysy Campos (She/Her/Hers)
Major: History
Minors: Criminal Justice, Pre-law
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is a personal issue to me. I don’t want anyone to live in fear or in hiding because they’re undocumented.
Favorite Quote
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela
+Moira O'Sullivan
Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Minors: Spanish for Healthcare professionals
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is important to me because I have personal connections with immigration and know how difficult and confusing the system is. I also believe that the there needs to be a real change to our current system.
Favorite Quote
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa
+Anna Johnson (She/Her/Hers)
Major: Sociology
Minors: Pre-Law
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
It is important to me, because I believe that everyone deserve the right to a safe place to live grow and be them self free of discrimination.
Favorite Quote
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ― Margaret Mead
+Elizabeth Mendez (She/Her/Hers)
Major: Sociology
Minors: Political Science
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to you?
Immigrant justice is important to me because the system has failed so many individuals and entire families for far too long.
Favorite Quote
"Ideas are steps into progress, not perfection."- Diane Guerrero
