Lagos, Nigeria

I should probably start by telling you a little bit about myself so that you have some background context on my blogging. I will be going into my third year of law school in the fall. I moved to New York for law school, before that I completed my undergrad and worked for a couple years in California. Five years ago I would not have discussed traveling to Africa – I probably would not have been against it, it was just not a thought that crossed my mind. But then again, six years ago, I would have told you I was not going to attend any type of graduate school. My life, however, has had its numerous ironic twists. I grew up in a large family, yet my brothers liked to make fun of me for being shy. Somewhere during high school and college, I learned to be more extroverted, but some of my underlying shyness has stuck and sometimes surfaces as timidity or even passivity.

I give you this bit of background just to say that being in Africa for a summer, for my first experience abroad, is likely not the first place you would have guessed to find me. But then again, if you knew more of my background, it is not surprising in my series of life choices – I’m known to have a independent, even stubborn, streak in me, so this has partially helped me push past characteristics that might have held me back from the wider world otherwise.

My train of thought has just been interrupted by the sounds of a drum and trumpets, accompanied by the regular honking sounds of the day. It seems there was some little parade, though I unfortunately couldn’t reach my camera in time to snap a picture and the viewpoint from our office blocks most of the street. The honking wasn’t even in irritation of the parade – as I learned my first day here, you honk to notify anyone (car, motorbike or person) you are behind them. Most road rules do not apply in Nigeria and even lanes are more of a hypothetical idea. I haven’t seen an accident yet, so perhaps there is some method in the craziness of the driving.

I am working for the Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON) this summer. The organization was founded and is run by a woman who has been a lawyer here for several years now. WOCON is focused on women’s empowerment and did a lot of political work during the past elections. I, however, am focusing on the work they do against human trafficking. The office has been a bit slow since I got here, and the complications in getting Internet access slow productivity, but I have finally started some research and it seems things will pick up next week.

I am slowly learning about the politics and daily life of Nigeria. It seems that even in the past 10 years a lot of change has come about. Elections just passed before I arrived and though the nation was in a bit of turmoil, I am told it is improvement on other years. Poverty is still apparent, and I hate to think of the families flooded out of their “houses” because of all the rain there has been (and the more that is expected to come). There seems to be no middle class here – there is the wealthy and the poor. I am sure some of the “wealthy” would say they are middle class, but the gap even between them and the poorer classes seems so large as to make any classification of middle class nearly unbelievable. Good pay is 30,000 Naira a month, which is around $200. This is not reflective of the cost of living – Lagos Island is likened to Manhattan. Food may be a bit cheaper, but not by much. Some things are even more expensive here, perhaps because they would be considered more of a luxury (for instance, I paid $80 a night to stay in a “guesthouse” – their version of a motel). You can live on the mainland, which may be slightly cheaper, but supposedly also less safe. Nigeria just passed a minimum wage law for 18,000 Naira/month which should give you an idea of how little most families have to live off of… they are having some trouble getting some of the state governors to even implement this rate.

Electricity is one of the biggest worries for the city – everything runs off generators and diesel fuel is going up in cost. Daily life still goes about, but it is amazing how much you cannot get done without electricity – it is too dark to work sometimes if it is raining, and even if there is enough natural light, your computer battery may run out before you can finish anything substantial. I realize that in other parts of the world, or even in most parts of Africa, having running water at anytime would be an unheard of luxury. But for a city with millions of people, the lack of such things can stunt economic growth and progress. Most things are imported – even clothing factories could not last in the city because they were competing against exporters who have regular, and cheaper, access to electricity.

I think the biggest thing I am learning so far, however, is the change in timing and pacing of life. People keep busy here, and seem to go to bed late and rise early. Businesses usually open around 8, or even 7am and close around 5pm. Maybe the late nights/early mornings are not so far off from New York life. However, I think the days seem a little longer because people are not so rushed as in New York, though any place would be hard pressed to beat the NY speed of life. But you have to be okay here with waiting and not knowing the timing of things. Times and plans change on a regular basis, sometimes without notification. Of course the question of whether there will be electricity or whether you can connect to the Internet also plays into the need for flexibility. Timing also comes in to play to make sure you charge your electronics while the generators are running or get in a shower before the water runs out. I don’t mean this as a complaint though – while it has been an adjustment, it makes me thankful I have these things as I realize most of the rest of the country lives without reliable generators (even one of his co-workers said his apartment has had no light for over a week now) and running water is never expected.

Despite the challenges of living here, the people I have met here have been very polite and welcoming. I attended a family member’s 50^th birthday party with my boss and it seems that in the midst of everything, they have held on to the importance of community. There are a lot of parties for various things and it gets hard to tell who is actually blood related as people start calling numerous others their brothers or aunts because they have been around each other for so long. Given the friends I am making already and how caring my home-stay family has been, I have a feeling I will have my own little community by the time I leave here.

Sunny Day in Ireland

First one we've had in a while so I thought, perfect occasion to sit outside with a cup of coffee (still a little chilly on this side of the Atlantic) and update my blog.

This summer I'm interning with the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) in Dublin, and I have to say, I love it! The Irish have been lovely hosts and have welcomed an additional intern with open arms.

To start, let me give a bit of background on the organization. The ICI is an NGO and independent law center in Dublin, specifically focused on providing information on immigration, promoting change in immigration law and policy, anti-human trafficking, anti-racism and integration. Saying this, it's a smaller organization so everything the ICI is involved in, is for a strategic legislative purpose.

My role at the ICI is two-fold. On Monday and Tuesdays I work on the Information Referral Line. Aside from training sessions with other organizations throughout the country, the referral line is the main source of contact with migrants seeking assistance. Open four days a week, this line is staffed with interns and staff members alike and takes calls from anyone looking for help!

After two short days of training, I jumped in and started taking calls. Even though I don't see these people face-to-face, it's a great experience listening to their situation and helping through the legal/policy immigration process. I say legal/policy because a lot of Irish immigration "law" is not actually legal; in fact, in many situations individuals associated with members of other EU States have more legal rights than those associated with Irish citizens. The Irish immigration policies are generally very discretionary and confusing to those who do not understand how the system works.

The referral line is generally fairly non-stop calls. It runs for two and half hour periods and I might only have a minute or two in between each call. The breaks in between are generally spent ringing back people whose situations I had to research further before giving them information. The calls I take vary from the most simple to the most complex. In some situations I have to weed through what one's immigration status is over many years of different statuses and periods of being undocumented-not to mention, the immigration policies change rather frequently so an individual might hold an immigration status that no longer exists!

That's essentially my work with the information referral line. On Wednesdays there is a legal team meeting where any recent changes to immigration law/policy are discussed as well as any complex queries received over the referral line.

After this meeting, I spend the rest of my week on the anti-human trafficking side of the ICI. I have to say, before my internship, I had no idea how extensive and horrifying the human trafficking world is! My role with anti-human trafficking includes research and writing for policy papers and letters to government officials. I also assist with clients the legal team can't take on directly. I might go with a trafficking victim to an investigatory interview with the Garda (Irish police) or assist her to write a letter to immigration.

Another aspect of my work with the anti-human trafficking team is assisting with their current campaign- Turn Off the Red Light (check it out at turnofftheredlight.ie). This campaign asks for legislation to criminalize the purchase of sex and decriminalize its selling. The rationale behind the campaign, is human trafficking is driven by the prostitution industry. By eliminating/diminishing the industry through criminalization of purchase, there will be less human trafficking. This concept was developed in Sweden a few years ago and has had a very positive effect. In a couple weeks we are briefing the newly-elected Irish Senate on our campaign and asking for their support.

Despite it being summer, I've come to Ireland at a very interesting time. Just recently the entire government was replaced and the newly elected TDs (representatives) and senators seem to be responding to NGOs insistences. Just last week, the Minister for Justice announced a change to the naturalization process that will result in a streamlined application process. We're hopeful that naturalization applications will now be decided in a short 6 months as opposed to the 2-5 year process now in place.

So that's Dublin and the ICI so far. I'll be sure to update soon on our campaign status and any interesting immigration issues I come across. For now, I better pack up and head inside because it's already started to rain!

First Impressions at Catholic Charities

Hello all:

I am interning with the Immigration and Refugee Services Department of Catholic Charities of The Archdiocese of New Yorkin New York City. The office is located on 1011 1st Avenue. The office includes attorneys, immigration counselors and refugee resettlement caseworkers that provide legal assistance to immigrants within the New York area.

I have only been working here since June 1st, but I have really enjoyed my time here so far. The office is filled with incredibly knowledgeable and friendly people. I have been and will be working with Abigail on a range of immigration issues ranging from applications for asylum and temporary protected status to adjustment of status (i.e. green card) applications. One particular area in which I will be working serves alien unaccompanied minors from the Children’s Village in the Jamaica Screening Center who have been detained as a result of breaking immigration laws.

For those who are unfamiliar with this, these are minors (children under the age of 21) who have been neglected, abused or otherwise unsupervised but do not maintian legal immigrant status because either their parents were illegal aliens or the circumstances surrounding their own entry into the U.S. was illegal. The common example of this is, of course, in the illegal traficking context.

I thought I might share some discussions that I have had recently with people in the office regarding the rules of professional responsibility and our obligations based on attorney-client priviledge.

According to my supervising attorney, Ms. Abigail Cushing, Esq., the New York Rules of Professional Responsibility dictate that an attorney, or law student intern, cannot reveal confidential information obtained through representing a client. At Catholic Charities, co-workers may share information within the office environment, but can never divulge information to others outside of the office relating to the client or his case, especially if that would put the client in danger or would be detrimental to the case.

Ms. Cushing mentioned one area where confidentiality becomes particularly important – when assisting unaccompanied alien minors. When attorneys from Catholic Charities visit the Children’s Village, the issues of client confidentiality are particularly salient. First and foremost, there are many children who have either been abused or have witnessed serious abuse. Divulging identifying information about these children might directly put them at risk for further harm or persecution, whether mental or physical. Their situation is particularly fragile because they are younger and are really unable to represent themselves and susceptible to the influence of others. As a result, she mentioned to be particularly protective of the vulnerability of these children.

Second, attorneys interview the staff doctors and psychiatrists, who are appointed by the government and ultimately represent the government's side of the case. These doctors will usually share information about the child’s mental and physical health, usually with the hope of receiving some feedback about the child’s history. Due to the limits of attorney-client confidentiality, however, the attorney cannot share any information about the client with the doctor without permission. As a result, the medical professionals are usually left feeling unsatisfied because they may have divulged information to the attorney without receiving anything in return. This might lead the doctors to withhold information in an attempt to induce the lawyers to reveal more. This of course in the end would seem counter-productive because the lawyers are trying to best serve the child, just as the doctors are, so it would seem prudent to divulge information to the lawyers in order to assist their case, regardless of whether they will receive any information in return. Of course the situation might be a little more complicated than my cursory knowledge of it at this point, but I will continue to probe and ask deeper questions.

Additionally, trust is especially vital with minors. These minors have generally are very distrustful of authorities because they have been unable to trust adults in the past. If an attorney divulged confidential information that the clients told them, the children would become more skeptical of revealing information to their attorneys because they would distrust them. This is further compounded by the fact that if an attorney broke client confidentiality by revealing information to the doctors, then the children within the Children’s Village would share with each other that certain attorneys cannot be trusted. If that happened, the attorney would not only be unable to adequately represent the specific client that he broke confidentiality with, but also with all of the other potential clients in the center. Thus, there are important policy reasons behind these rules of confidentiality that not only protect the client from possible future harm, but also allow the attorney to build trust with the client.

With these considerations in mind, I began to consider how I would be able to share my experience on this blog with others in a meaningful way. What I came up with was the following: I plan on sharing practice-related experiences very generally, without divulging any information identifying my clients or my clients’ background. I propose viewing client confidentiality not as a burden that inhibits my actions, but as a possible building block to establishing a better working relationship with my clients. I aim to share information that would be helpful to other classmates on a general level without jeopardizing my client’s safety, security or trust. I am sure that I will continue to think about these questions in the coming weeks, and into my career as an attorney, much more. I will also continue to ask more questions about the structure and hierarchy of the entire organization.

But for right now, that's what I've got.
Thanks and all the best to everyone. I hope you are all enjoying your respective summers.