How American Gateways Changed My Perspective

by Jost Lunstroth

I came to American Gateways expecting more of the same. I grew up in Houston immersed in immigrant communities, and studied issues of migration extensively while in college. I applied for an internship at American Gateways because of my desire to spend the summer working close to home, and because of my desire to work in some sort of public-interest job. What I had really wanted, though, was a job concerned with rights more broadly, either human or civil rights. I did not wish to become pigeon-holed into working forever with migration. 

All my expectations have now been blown away. Working here is an amazing experience. For the people whose cases American Gateways has the resources to take, we become an integral part of their lives. It can seem as if a client's life is being thrown around at the whim of some larger-than-life forces, until American Gateways is able to provide some stable ground upon which the client can stand. Even if the case is ultimately denied, I feel as if the moral support itself is invaluable to our clients. And fortunately, American Gateways wins the vast majority of its clients’ cases.

The real sad part, though, is understanding first-hand how many excellent cases for asylum, for relief from domestic violence, human trafficking, and for victims of various other crimes and circumstances, have to be turned away. The organization simply does not have the resources to represent all the deserving people who have never been represented before, or have been misrepresented and defrauded by people who take advantage of them. In spite of it all, or perhaps because of it, working with the people we are able to represent has been, and continues to be, perhaps the most powerful experience of my life.

Jost Lunstroth, from the University of Michigan Law School, is one of 3 summer law clerks at American Gateways.