Written by Annakarel Portillo-Alvarez — This fall I have been interning for a non-profit agency known as RAICES that aims to defend the rights of Immigrants and Refugees and advocate for their rights in this country. RAICES was founded in San Antonio in 1987 but throughout the years and thanks to the demand for immigration and refugee services that many were not able to access throughout the state of Texas, it has since expanded with offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. It is the largest immigrant legal service provider in the state of Texas.
As an intern in Fall 2021, my role and responsibilities with RAICES have been made remote due to the impact of the pandemic, but that does not mean I am any less involved in the work that is done every day. My typical day is not the same everyday but that is one of the things that makes it that much more exciting. We try to start off every week with a weekly check-in so that we can talk about the cases that are most important and oftentimes we address the assignments I have already completed and how they have been incorporated into a client’s case. It is such a proud feeling to know that the tasks I do don’t just help the attorney file a client’s case faster, but I also play a big role in translating legal documents to help aid their cases and applications. My day consists of filling out applications for client’s consultations so that they can just review and make any changes that are not up to date. Another big part of my internship is that I often translate documents that clients send in to help aid their case. And when it comes to translating I actually play a very important role because most translations are usually between english and spanish but because of prior experience I’ve had, I’m the only one in the office that is able to help translate between english and french. On occasion some of my other tasks include reaching out to clients and either following up with them or asking them to send in documents that are urgent for their cases. I also often work on preparing their closing letters for their cases.
Some of the things that pleasantly surprised me about this internship is how involved I am in the client’s cases and in knowing what is going on for them each week. As a result of this, I play a fairly large role in making sure that documents are ready for their meetings and that they are well organized in our digital archive. One thing that also surprised me is how many different countries the immigrants and refugees that we help come from. I am not an Austin native, but it is really interesting to see the diversity in the city through the clients we are helping. It really reflects the values of the organization when you actually see it put into perspective like that.
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