CUNY Law’s Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA) is a group and space created by and for Latinx students, allies, and collaborators. LALSA is meant to harness the best of our legal and advocacy skills in the service of marginalized and working-class people, with a focus on the needs and issues of Latinx people. Our collective skills, capacities, and resources are utilized in the service of student education and skill-building. We work alongside communities challenging economic, social, and political systems that subjugate people of color and the working poor.
Fellowship recipients are selected based on how the student’s summer internship work aligns with LALSA’s mission and the work’s contributions to the advancement of the Latinx community, the public interest field, and social justice advocacy. As student summer public interest work is often unfunded, fellowships are our top priority in order to provide funding to students; not many of us have the privilege to be able to dedicate our summer to working without a stipend. We hope to raise enough funds to provide an additional scholarship this year, as COVID-19 has had an impact on many students and we would love to alleviate the pressure that taking on an unpaid internship may have especially in these times.
GRANTEES
Cristina Brito ‘21
U.S. District Court, Eastern District
Brooklyn, NY
Daniel Peña
Daniel Peña
Class of 2021
Immigrant Defense Project
During my time at the Immigrant Defense Project, I worked to combat the collateral consequences that the carceral system has on non-citizens through litigation, legal advice, hotline support, and policy. For so many immigrants of color, surveillance by and contact with the criminal legal system has direct implications on their entanglement with the deportation machine and my time at IDP allowed me to advocate for systemic change against that
Ariana Salas ‘21
The Bronx Defenders
One of the projects I was able to work on consisted of me reaching to clients to figure out their needs and to connect them with resources. A prevalent concern in the community was food scarcity, and I was able to connect them with food so they would have one less worry during these uncertain times.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR LALSA
This year LALSA’s goal is to raise $12,000 to fund four fellowships. LALSA’s main fundraising event is LALSAWeen, a costume party for the community, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to hold our event this fall. Instead, the Editorial Board has been hard at work thinking of creative Zoom-friendly events, including our first-ever LALSA Dance Series. To check in on our community we have held weekly Friday virtual Cafecitos as space for new and returning members to be able to get to know each other. To help our 1Ls be informed and connected with our LALSA members, we held an Internship 101 panel and created an Internships & Funding Guide. Furthermore, we have been able to collaborate with other student organizations on a 1L POC Community Space, a panel discussion entitled From #DefundPolice to Mutual Aid, and more.
LALSA plans to continue to foster a community where all its members feel supported and to connect our members with valuable networking opportunities and establish professional relationships to forge a legal path. We wish to continue engaging alumni so they always have a family to come back to with CUNY LALSA. We strive to continue to foster relationships with CUNY Law affinity groups to help build a strong community amongst BIPOC students, so that students may know that there is a larger network here to support them. Our communities are often left to figure out how to enter and build careers in the legal field, as we are often the first in our families to do so. Through a strong community and our combined efforts, we are able to create opportunities for students that are paving a path for themselves and future generations to come.
A gift of any size is appreciated.
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