Meet Dijana
RLL PhD candidate Dijana Savija (4th from right), translator, and UB Law School team members leave for Dilley, Texas to provide legal services to asylum seekers under the auspices of the US-Mexico Border Law Clinic.
"Volunteering at Dilley South Texas Family Residential Center, Texas, was an eye-opening and rewarding experience that not only enriched me culturally, but also made me much more aware of what laws of our country should be improved in order to provide better service to those asking us for asylum.
Being an interpreter between an asylum-seeker and her attorney is an important role in order to provide good legal service to those women and children as they often times have a hard time verbalizing the traumatic past they want to forget. The collaboration between the attorney and me is to prepare them well for their Credible Fear Interview with an asylum officer. I spent five full days there, working 12-hour shifts, multitasking and learning a lot all the time. I gave different talks (charlas) to the asylum seekers (an Intake Talk, a Credible Fear Interview Talk, and a Release Talk), I helped them fill out paperwork, I interpreted during preparation CFI’s, I prepared some on my own, I answered questions and did various other tasks along the way.
I must say that I learned a lot about the immigration laws of our country, and a whole lot about the lives of Honduran, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan women and children. The whole experience was challenging but absolutely worthwhile. Being able to help some of those women and children that are seeking peace in our country was an opportunity for me to create a stronger and better world. "
To help support the group's travel costs, please visit the US-Mexico Border Law Clinic crowdsourcing page