CLINIC launched a new project called the Recent Arrivals Capacity Building Mentorship Initiative (RACMBI) in which leaders of existing community-based legal service organizations are invited to provide mentorship to aspiring Department of Justice representatives who are looking to gain accreditation and build up their legal service programs. CLINIC sat down with Luisa Martin-Price, one of the mentors who participated in the initiative, to hear about her experience serving as a mentor for the project.

Q: Can you tell me about your role and how long you’ve worked at Catholic Charities?

I am a fully accredited DOJ representative. I became partially accredited in November 2016 and received full accreditation in 2018. I started out at Catholic Charities as a volunteer a long time ago. I have always been interested in helping others, and when I had more time after raising my children, I dedicated more time to volunteering. Eventually I moved into a full-time role.

Working at a nonprofit, my role is doing everything – I wear lots of hats and have many cases, a wide variety of types of immigration cases. We oversee 52 counties at our organization! But we are now getting a good group of volunteers and I coordinate all they do. We are always looking for new ideas for working together as a community and increasing our capacity to meet the need.

Q: What inspires you to do this work?

First, my own experience as an immigrant. I came to the United States from Venezuela many years ago — but back when it was easier to do the paperwork to immigrate. In 1995, it was like 2 pages to fill out, one form. It was very different for me back then.

In 2016 I saw how the immigration system was struggling, and I wanted to help more immigrants like myself. I had been volunteering at Catholic Charities since my kids were little, mostly with the Hispanic community, because my first language is Spanish.

I had seen how hard it is to immigrate, even for myself, doing it legally, coming in and out of the country as I needed to. I knew it was much harder for so many other people. When my family came here, we could work, we had degrees — but some people don’t have anything. I knew I needed to help them. So I switched from being a part-time volunteer to a full-time employee.

Q: What prompted you to participate as a mentor for the RACBMI?

First, because I was asked to be a mentor! CLINIC staff reached out to me, and I was glad to be asked. Second, because I think it is very important. I wish I had had someone to guide me when I was first starting out so I didn’t make so many mistakes. I still make mistakes of course, but I have learned so much. Mentorship is important at all stages, really – there’s so much to learn in this field. But it is so important for people just starting out.

Q: What has the mentor-mentee relationship looked like?

It has been great. I have had two mentees so far and am just starting with my third. I used to be a teacher, so I love to teach. Teaching prompts you to always be learning yourself, challenging yourself to be better.

My first two mentees were at the same organization and were both new, aspiring DOJ reps. I helped them do their first few cases when they were just starting out (and signed the forms because they were not yet DOJs).

Via Zoom calls, I helped them with a naturalization and an adjustment of status. These cases we chose were straightforward, and we walked through all the small details, helping them do things in practice that they had learned in training. There were a lot of moments of “Ohhh, that’s what they were talking about?”

We planned to meet them in person at CLINIC Convening!

The third mentee I have, whom I’m just starting with, is taking the Comprehensive Overview of Immigration Law course (COIL) and he will be the first DOJ representative at his organization.

Q: How has mentoring aspiring accredited representatives impacted your program or community?

It keeps me constantly learning and improving in my practice.

We don’t work with refugees much, so it has been good to keep up those skills through helping with those cases. We have learned from our mentees, too; one of the mentees was formerly a refugee. She knew the details of being a refugee that we didn’t know, and it was great to learn and see her point of view.

Q: What advice do you have for DOJ accredited representatives or attorneys who may consider mentorship in the future?

Go for it, don’t think it twice! You’re doing such a good service, because the need is great. It’s not that much time – and it’s worth it. It really benefits both parties; it’s always a win-win.