“I felt equipped to immediately dive into casework as an attorney because of my co-ops.
Jennifer Gonzales ’24
The plight of immigrants and refugees in search of a better life: It’s a story Jennifer Gonzales, the daughter of Peruvian immigrants to the United States, knows well. From her family history to her two years of service with AmeriCorps at Project Citizenship to working with nonprofits in her native Cincinnati, Ohio, Gonzales has put helping immigrants find a better life at the top of her priority list. Through her co-ops with the Legal Centre Lesvos in Greece and Greater Boston Legal Services, Gonzales gained firsthand experience in helping people navigate the legal complexities of the US and European immigration processes.
“During my co-op in Greece, our clients were primarily people from Afghanistan and the Middle East who were making their way to Turkey and then attempting to cross to Lesvos, where they could seek asylum and benefit from EU laws. Lesvos has become an epicenter of migration because it’s so close to Turkey and mainland Greece. Even though it’s a short distance, the sailing is quite dangerous,” says Gonzales. “As a legal intern in a foreign country where nobody’s first language was English, I had to navigate a completely different universe. I have not had the experience of being a refugee, but to a small extent I now have some understanding of how complicated it can be to navigate a different language, legal system and culture.”
Today, Gonzales is working with immigrants who seek assistance from the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts. Her position is funded by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation’s Bart J. Gordon Fellowship. “It is an honor to be selected for this fellowship and to carry out the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts’ goal of securing equal justice and maximizing opportunity for low-income children and youth across the state.”
Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, Massachusetts
For her first co-op, Jennifer wanted to explore the intersections of immigration and family law. She rotated at GBLS with both the Family Law and Immigration units in order to learn about family-based immigration law, representing survivors of domestic violence and humanitarian-based relief for immigrants. Her co-op was partially funded by her selection for a prestigious Equal Justice America Fellowship.
- Family Law and Juvenile Justice Society
- Federal Bar Association (co-chair)
- Latin American Law Student Association (co-chair)
- Students for Immigration Justice
Immigrant Justice
In this clinic, Jennifer learned how to support immigrants as they apply for asylum in the United States. In drafting a legal memo in support of a client’s asylum case, she used the legal research and writing skills she had honed in her first year of law school, and ultimately in partnership with PAIR (a local immigrant-serving nonprofit) helped her client win a successful asylum claim. Jennifer also participated in the clinic’s trip to the border of Mexico, where she and other clinic students conducted immigration legal work for a week with Las Americas, an immigrant advocacy center.
Domestic Violence
Jennifer combined her interests in family law and immigration law to provide legal support to immigrant survivors of domestic violence. With the support of her supervisor and clinic partner, she filed a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Case and Medical Deferred Action Case for her immigrant clients to help them remain in the United States.
Suffolk Probate and Family Court, Boston, Massachusetts
For her second co-op, Jennifer wanted to gain further experience with legal research and writing in a judicial setting. She conducted legal research on a variety of family and probate law matters and drafted decisions for cases concerning custody, child support, parenting time and other domestic issues. This co-op was supported by Jennifer’s selection for a Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Diversity Fellowship.
As a teaching assistant for Immigration Law, Jennifer reviewed problem sets submitted by students and identified issues for improving student learning outcomes. In her teaching assistant role, she also managed a variety of immigration cases, including but not limited to Temporary Protected Status, work authorization, and asylum cases.
- Administrative Law
- Federal Indian Law
- Immigration Law
- International Human Rights and the Global Economy
- Refugee and Asylum Law
- Representing Spanish Speaking Clients
- Trial Practice
Legal Centre Lesvos, Mitilini, Greece
Like many other Northeastern Law students, Jennifer used her co-ops not only for different legal experiences but also to see other parts of the world. In her final co-op in Greece, she provided free and individualized legal support to recently arrived migrants, engaged in international human rights advocacy and supported LCL’s efforts to conduct strategic litigation in the European Court of Human Rights.