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Summer 2021 Staff Updates
Posted on Jun 16 2021
Welcome to the first of our summer interns and new team members! We have eight new interns joining us this summer including:
Kathy Santamaria Mendez will be a Minnesota Justice Foundation law clerk for the summer. She is a rising second-year law student at Mitchell Hamline. She earned her a B.A. in Chicano/Latino Studies in 2019 from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities. She became interested in immigration law at a very young age due to her own experience as an immigrant from El Salvador. This pushed her to pursue various internships and opportunities throughout college that would allow her to create policy change, such as being a member of the Young Women’s Initiative of MN, the Capitol Pathways Internship Program, the Urban Scholars Program, and working as a summer fellow for MN Attorney General Keith Ellison. Before starting law school, she worked as a Legal Assistant at Ostrom Law Office which helped her gain first-hand experience in handling various types of immigration cases. She hopes to use her law degree to continue working in immigration law. During her free time, she spends time with her 7-year-old son playing outdoors, exploring the Twin Cities, and volunteering as a youth leader at her church.
Noah Rice just completed his freshman year at Cornell University, where he is studying art history and Jewish studies. Noah will be our advocacy intern for the summer.
Carlos Reyes Rojas is currently a rising senior at Carleton College where he studies Political Science. He is interning with our Pro Bono team, and he is looking forward to this summer. He is interested in studying law and potentially pursuing a career in immigration law. In his free time he likes to play soccer, watch soccer, and listen to music.
We have three individuals who will be working with our Community Defense Project.
Jennifer Melton is a rising second year at the University of Minnesota Law School. She has nearly a decade of experience working with survivors of human trafficking in China and here in the United States.
Julia Potach is a rising third year at the University of Minnesota Law School who has a long commitment to working with immigrants and refugees. Julia grew up in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota, where she majored in Spanish Studies and Global Studies.
During college, Julia become interested in immigration issues through her volunteer work with local community organizations that served immigrant communities and an internship with The Advocates for Human Rights. After graduation, Julia spent two years working near the U.S./Mexico border as a paralegal and consultant for the Dilley Pro Bono Project. Her experience providing legal services to families in immigration detention led her to attend law school.
Sara Osman is a rising third year at the University of California at Berkeley Law School. They have done significant media work with youth.
ILCM also hired a new Director of Finance and Operations, Sally Nankivell. Sally is currently the executive director of LegalCORPS, an organization that provides business law pro bono assistance to small businesses and nonprofits including many immigrant-owned small businesses. She was previously the Administrative Director at the Advocates for Human Rights, where she led the finance, human resources, technology and operations functions, and developed great insight and experience into issues facing immigrants and refugees.
The ILCM Board elected a new member, Pa Nhia Vang. Pa Nhia came to the U.S. as a refugee. She is an associate at Jones Day, a pro bono attorney with ILCM, Hmong American and grew up on East Side of St. Paul and also served on the board of the Hmong American Bar Association.
We are also sad to see two of our team members and friends leave ILCM – Jess and Susan. We are thankful for their work with ILCM and will miss both of them tremendously.
Jess first joined ILCM as a law clerk in 2008. She then took pro bono cases after graduating law school and becoming an attorney. In 2016 Jess joined ILCM as an attorney in our Worthington office, where she was a tireless advocate for clients in Southwest Minnesota. Jess then came to the St. Paul office to become a Pro Bono Coordinator/Staff Attorney, where she has played a tremendous role in screening, evaluating, and placing naturalization cases and supporting hundreds of pro bono attorneys. She will miss the clients tremendously.
Susan has been a tremendous member of ILCM’s community since she started her career here as a law clerk from 1998-2001 and later returned as a staff attorney in 2006. She has been a tireless advocate for ILCM’s clients and has accumulated and shared a wealth of information on immigration law and practice, particularly “crimmigration” and deportation defense. In her time at ILCM, Susan has handled over 1,000 cases and advised public defenders on close to 6,000 matters.