Category: CITY 420 Seeking Spatial Justice

Seminar:  CITY420: Seeking Spatial Justice 

Semester:  Fall 2025 

Faculty Advisor/Professor:  Lauren Restrepo 

Community Partner:  HIAS-PA   

Praxis Site Supervisor:  Rona Gershon   

Praxis Poster:

Further Context:

This summer, seeing the horrors being forced upon immigrants, I realized that I could not simply sit back and watch; I needed to get involved. I researched immigration nonprofits in Philadelphia until I found HIAS-PA, the incredible organization that became my praxis site. The organization first began as a nonprofit that was focused on aiding Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s until 1979, when they opened their doors to immigrants of all backgrounds. The history of HIAS immediately appealed to me because of my own family’s immigration history. My grandparents came here from Eastern Europe, and they faced significant challenges upon arrival. HIAS helped immigrant families just like mine but in Philadelphia settle smoothly in America, and I felt called to give back in the same way that HIAS-PA is now open to all. My family has been living in the United States for three generations, and I am secure enough now to help those who need assistance now. When my grandparents came to the United States, they were fleeing persecution, and now, when people try to do the same, they are met with violence and hate. My goal in working at HIAS-PA was to counteract as much of that hate as I could by showing the people I spoke to that I cared about them, and that we would do our very best to help.  

I was on the intake team at HIAS. Once I began my work, I fell into a smooth rhythm: I would find out who was waiting for an intake call, call them, ask them the intake questions, enter it into the computer system, and let the attorneys know that the intake had been completed. This usually went smoothly. The more difficult part was hearing the immigration stories that these people experienced. Trauma and fear filled the questionnaire as I took notes on the answers to the questions I was supposed to ask. I learned quickly that no one came here simply for “a better life.” Everyone I had spoken to was escaping something, and it broke my heart that the country they chose to come to was treating them as though they were criminals. One question I had to ask was whether they had been arrested for a crime in the United States, and the answer was almost always “no”. And yet, our country continues to pretend that everyone who crosses the border is a criminal. I felt my anger expanding with every call I made as I understood more and more of the injustices these people had faced.  

I gained a lot from this experience, and I learned a lot about myself in the process. Firstly, I got the opportunity to put into perspective how lucky I am that I was born here, and therefore I do not have to live in fear every day. I learned that speaking to individuals carries so much more meaning than looking at statistics—I had seen all the numbers prior to the start of my work, but hearing individuals speak made me feel so much more connected to the issues immigrants face. I learned that I might want to consider immigration law as a career path because I have developed so much respect for the attorneys at HIAS and the work that they do, and I want to be a part of it one day. I learned that a little bit of kindness and patience goes a long way by seeing the gratitude I received after checking in with potential clients who did not know when they would hear back. I learned that everybody has a story to tell, and listening is often so helpful by itself, even if HIAS did not have the capacity to offer full services. Overall, I learned how important immigration work is, and I am forever appreciative of my experience at HIAS-PA.