On Monday, November 10, 2025, in The Student Faculty Commons, the fall City Semester cohort hosted a panel discussion on immigration justice, with lawyers, activists, immigration advocates, and immigrants speaking on their experience of the changed immigration landscape in New York City in the Trump Era\u2019s Age of ICE. Six panelists,\u00a0 from around the world, shared their opinions from their respective fields, covering topics of immigration law, food insecurity, the intersection between immigration and criminal law, Venezuelan and teen immigrants and activists for asylum seekers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, the panel was asked the question, \u201cSince legal representation is not guaranteed for immigrants, how do immigrants find free representation\u201d? One of the lawyers on the panel chimed in solemnly,\u00a0 \u201cMany have to go without attorneys. The mayor’s office takes those who call and sends them to lawyers, but there\u2019s not enough for everybody.\u201d It was pointed out that some come through recommendations from social workers, others through word of mouth. However, the immigration process can take many years. It took\u00a0 Niurka Mel\u00e9ndez, a panelist and forced migrant activist, eight years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belle Burden, a Fieldston mother, lawyer and panelist, shared how the majority of the people in the U.S. are so familiar with their right to an attorney that they don\u2019t realize that right doesn\u2019t apply to immigrants. Burton said, \u201cThey\u2019re not guaranteed a lawyer because it\u2019s a civil issue. Having a lawyer can be the difference between being detained by ICE or not.\u201d Additionally, she pointed out, with a lawyer, the defendant is 60% more likely to win the case than if self-representing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The panelists were then asked, \u201cHow do you think your work will be affected by the change in the mayoral election?\u201d The panelists had seemingly high hopes for Mamdani\u2019s upcoming term, saying there would be more funding for immigrants and that it is nice to \u201chave an incoming mayor who won\u2019t sell you out to ICE.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final question was, \u201cHow can youth help with the immigration process?\u201d The panelists agreed that youth tend to underestimate their power, especially the power that comes with education. They echoed the importance of speaking up, stating that \u201ceven just saying \u2018I don\u2019t support ICE\u2019 and \u2018I want immigrants here\u2019 can have a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panelist and lawyer Elizabeth Wu shared that there\u2019s not only one way to help with the immigration process: \u201cEveryone has something to contribute, and that contribution can look very different\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
City Semester student Loretta Keefe, who was one of the students questioning the panel, said, \u201cI feel immense remorse for these children because they\u2019re having to deal with such an unfortunate situation at such a young age. Most of the children are living in poverty because their parents haven\u2019t been able to get jobs, and they have not been able to get into public schools because of their status as immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The panel offered an impactful look into the city\u2019s immigration system, offering firsthand experiences and highlighting the urgent need for support and advocacy. What they shared showed how challenging immigration can be for children, families and entire communities. In the end, the panelists emphasized the value of young people using their voices to call for change in the immigration system. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Monday, November 10, 2025, in The Student Faculty Commons, the fall City Semester cohort hosted a panel discussion on immigration justice, with lawyers, activists, immigration advocates, and immigrants speaking on their experience of the changed immigration landscape in New York City in the Trump Era\u2019s Age of ICE. Six panelists,\u00a0 from around the world, shared their opinions from their respective fields, covering topics of immigration law, food insecurity, the intersection between immigration and criminal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":12478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[347,318,320],"tags":[],"coauthors":[692,715],"class_list":["post-12477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-15-at-6.42.47-PM-e1763250222525.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12479,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12477\/revisions\/12479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12477"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}