Lycée Français de New York alumna Mariana Suarez ‘16 will be starting her senior year at Yale University this fall, but she was also hard at work all summer. She put her interest in immigration law to use by completing an internship with the non-profit legal aid group, KIND (Kids in Need of Defense). KIND is a national leader in providing pro bono legal representation to unaccompanied children in immigration court proceedings.
“We help connect these kids to attorneys who can represent them in their immigration process,” explains Mariana, who also works for a legal aid group in New Haven during the school year.
At the New York City office, Mariana spent her summer facilitating intake meetings with children who were new to KIND. The kids usually arrive in the care of a U.S.-based guardian, such as a parent or a relative. But there are also language barriers that can make the visa application process difficult. Many of the children experienced trauma during the trip into the United States, or even before that, in their home countries (hence the reason for immigrating).
“Working with children who suffer from trauma can be very sensitive, so we need intern candidates who can deal with the emotional toll of this kind of work,” says Nina McKenna, a paralegal at KIND and Mariana’s supervisor.
“This kind of work requires someone who is compassionate,” agrees Mariana. “You are often the first person they are opening up to about what they’ve been through. Having experience working with kids is helpful.”
Launched in 2008, KIND has offices in 10 cities across the United States, with a robust national network of nearly 40,000 attorneys, paralegals, and law students who all work to ensure that children who have been persecuted in their home countries will never need to appear in court without representation.
As a legal aid worker, Mariana’s fluency in both French and Spanish has turned out to be a huge asset. Many of the children she meets are coming from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, and some are coming from Haiti. So her education at the Lycée Français de New York provided a strong foundation for her multilingual communication skills.
In fact, Mariana is not the only alumna from the international network of Lycées to work at KIND. Nina McKenna graduated from the Lycée Français de Chicago before starting her career in immigration law.
“The international lens of the curriculum definitely gave me a better understanding of the world we live in and the needs of our global community,” she says.
Here at the Lycée, we would like to say, “Brava!” to these two women, truly citizens of culture and courage.
About the Author :
Rachel Veroff joined the Lycée’s Communications team in 2018. She brings to the school her interest in storytelling and bilingual culture.