New York Law School third-year Carlos Valenzuela has consistently demonstrated a commitment to public interest law by participating in a variety of programs that serve to enrich the lives of those who may not otherwise have access to legal services. Since his first year in school, he has volunteered for New York Law School’s Safe Passage Project, a philanthropic organization that works to address the unmet legal needs of indigent immigrant youth by providing legal representation, guidance and assistance.
In one instance, Valenzuela helped an immigrant youth far beyond providing vital legal services. He worked with his own family to have them apply to become the guardian of one of the homeless teens he met doing his volunteer work. He helped the teen enroll in a GED program and with regular support from Valenzuela and members of his family, the teen also plans to attend college. The teen is in removal proceedings, but Valenzuela helped him find a legal guardian and soon he will be eligible for legal relief as a special immigrant and is likely to obtain permanent status in the United States.
Valenzuela has since been promoted to the position of Justice AmeriCorps Paralegal with the Safe Passage Project. He serves a wide variety of roles including translator, paralegal, law clerk, second chair and counselor. Upon his graduation, he will be serving a fellowship with the Immigrant Justice Corps.
He has been active in learning about the immigration issues facing the United States. During the summer after his second year of law school, Valenzuela volunteered with KINDS and travelled to Guatemala to visit some of the organizations that KINDS partnered with to reintegrate children who were deported back to Guatemala.
“It seems clear that Carlos can become not only a leading immigration attorney, but could very easily be running an organization himself,” said Helena Prigal, assistant dean for student engagement.
Valenzuela is one of 25 future lawyers honored in the National Jurist’s inaugural “Law Student of the Year” feature
