News Archive

While law students forming groups that draw together kindred spirits to expand interests and knowledge of a particular area of the law isn’t an unusual occurrence, it’s not something that’s top-of-mind for most first-year students, because the early semesters of law school can be a challenge.

But when 1Ls Puruda Kothari, (in the photo at center) Daniel Randolph, (in the photo at right) and Sheila Willard arrived at IU McKinney in Fall 2015 looking for the student group on immigration law and couldn’t find it, they found like-minded 2L evening division student Cindy Alfaro and decided to form the Student Immigration Law Society. The final authorization for the new group came in late Fall 2015, and the group became active in Spring 2016.

Kothari, Randolph, and Willard all have specific reasons why they wanted to create the group and why they are thinking of pursuing this area of the law after graduation.

For Kothari, president of the group, it’s all about creating awareness of this area of the law and what’s at stake for people who need an attorney who understands immigration law. She intends to practice immigration law. Her experience as a student originally from India, who traveled to the United States to pursue her education, showed her how great the need is for advocacy. “A lot of the students who come here don’t know their rights,” Kothari said. It’s not merely the students who come to the United States on student visas, but also working professionals who come to the U.S. on work visas who are sometimes taken advantage of. “They spend their life savings, and are sometimes deported back to their home countries.”

Randolph, the group’s vice president, came to IU McKinney after working for 15 years in the restaurant industry, which he says is heavily populated by documented and undocumented immigrants. “I have seen people suffering,” Randolph said of his previous career experience. “There are ways we can help as students and professionals.”  He’s originally from Kokomo, and he says he plans on immigration being one of his practice areas. His wife is an immigrant who is still sorting out the immigration process. “We have had a tough time finding an attorney who would not see us an income, but as people,” Randolph said. “Current immigration law breaks families apart, potentially my own if our waiver is not approved. Attorneys need to make money, but I also believe it is important that attorneys and law students recognize their greater duty to serve those who need our help. Pro bono and public service work are very important to me personally.”

Willard, who serves as secretary for the group, has seen first-hand what a good or bad job done by an attorney regarding immigration paperwork can mean for a family. Willard’s family is from Argentina. She was born in Houston. Willard traveled as an infant with her mother to Argentina, where her mother was scheduled to obtain final approval on her Visa.  Her father waited for his wife’s and new born baby’s return in Texas, a process that should have only taken days. Once in Argentina, Willard’s mother was told the paperwork had been processed incorrectly by the immigration attorney in Houston. Because of an error in the paperwork, Willard and her mother were separated from her father for four years. “They were trying to do it the right way,” Willard said, “but instead, they faced an undue hardship. It makes me passionate about the topic, because there is nothing right about separating hardworking, law-abiding families.”

Alfaro, who is the group’s treasurer, has a goal to be a part of the change in the nation’s immigration system. She came to the United States with her family from El Salvador 17 years ago, and is the first Temporary Protected Status law student to attend an Indiana University law school. “It has been a difficult life being an immigrant, and I hope to not only help immigrant families but impact U.S. immigration law as a whole with my career,” Alfaro said. “My parents and brother have been the driving force for me to attend law school, both emotionally and economically.”

To learn more about the group, contact Randolph at damrando@imail.iu.edu