In the town of Schuyler, students and faculty from the College of Law are aiding residents in navigating the U.S. immigration system. The Schuyler Immigration Project, which began nearly one year ago with support from UNL Community Engagement funding, looks to make connections within the school system, with the community at large, and with local attorneys.
Former immigration clinic student Tavia Bruxellas McAlister, ’24, originally identified Schuyler as a potential location for this kind of outreach due to its large foreign-born student population. In her interactions with residents, they were friendly and open, and immigration resources in the town were scarce.
“She came back and said that the community needs help, because kids are doing this on their own,” said Professor Kevin Ruser, Director of the Immigration Clinic. “They are working and coming to school after a night shift, and they’re doing the best they can.”
One of the main goals of the Schuyler Project is to demystify the immigration process through education. The most recent presentation they hosted, focused on knowing your individual rights, saw the greatest turnout of any of the project’s events. Around 60 community members attended, many with questions on potential encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how deportation efforts may impact their children.
The Immigration Clinic is uniquely situated to provide help in this area, as it has provided free legal assistance to underrepresented groups for many years and student attorneys have knowledge of the process of obtaining visas, particularly in the case of minors.
Abigail Quintana, ’25, is one of two students spearheading the project this year. She said she can feel the stress Schuyler residents are under, and having the opportunity to take some of that weight off their shoulders is a big motivation.
“We can do this simple thing that's maybe 20 hours of work, going to court and doing one hearing, and by helping some of these youth get Special Immigrant juvenile status, it changes the rest of their lives,” Quintana said.
The project has been building trust and cultivating a community with the population in Schuyler for the past year, but Ruser said a rise in uncertainty and confusion has some residents hesitating to ask for immigration assistance. He said he understands why many are waiting to see how immigration proceedings will play out in practice.
“We're operating in a new environment now, and so we want to make sure that people know what their options are, what their rights are,” he said. “We just want to give people the information they need to make a reasonable decision about their own case.”
Quintana and her clinic partner, Kalie Saunders, ’25, also do outreach work within the legal community. Through Continuing Legal Education (CLE) presentations and other efforts, they hope to equip local attorneys to handle the in-court aspects of juvenile immigration proceedings, which would alleviate some of the travel and time constraints of the project.
Looking ahead, Ruser said he hopes the Schuyler Project serves as a sort of in-house counsel to the community on immigration issues. By serving as a go-to resource, the project can alleviate some of the stressors of residents while providing legal expertise.
“My hope is to take what we're learning in Schuyler and turn it into a model that we can export into other communities around the state,” he said.
