In October 2024, law student practitioners 2L Alissa Pollard and 3L Oksana Synetska accompanied their client, Lilian, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for her naturalization interview. Pollard and Synetska had worked with Lilian over the past few months to help prepare her for the day, conducting mock interviews and going over possible scenarios for how the meeting would go. At the end of the interview, Lilian was told she had passed. She would soon be a United States citizen.

“The joy and relief on Lillian’s face when the interviewer explained she had passed the interview was indescribable,” Pollard said. “She thanked us for supporting her and her family members through the process and expressed that without the support she was not sure where she would be.”
Third-year law student Monali Bhakta was also with her client, Mario, when he passed his naturalization interview with USCIS.
“I was excited to see my client’s reaction after he got approved for naturalization,” Bhakta said. “It proved that all of the hard work we put into the case was definitely worth the wait.”
Pollard, Synetska and Bhakta worked as student practitioners in the University of St. Thomas School of Law’s Immigration Law Practice Group last semester, through which students have opportunity to work directly with clients pursuing U.S. citizenship, like Lilian and Mario. Law students in the clinic, which is led by Professor Virgil Wiebe, assist individuals by conducting interviews, completing local and international fact investigations, drafting immigration applications and affidavits and representing clients before immigration-related divisions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The clinic also regularly engages in broader policy and advocacy work through community-based organizations.
“Without these resources, gaining status and naturalizing could be nearly impossible,” Pollard said. “The USCIS forms are not intuitive, and the laws are constantly changing. Without access to free or low-cost legal support, many folks would have very little guidance on where to start or how to go about the naturalization process.”
Students are drawn to this area of the law and seek to work in the Immigration Law Practice Group clinic for a variety of reasons, some personal.
“I have a passion for serving underprivileged immigrant communities because of my lived experiences in the United States as a daughter of immigrants from India,” Bhakta said. “I was surrounded by hardworking and compassionate immigrants my whole life, so I feel the urgency to advocate for their rights.”
Others have had experiences prior to law school that led them to consider a career in immigration law.
“I was a community organizer for a handful of years before coming to law school and really missed the person-to-person interaction,” Pollard said. “I have been interested in immigration law due to work I’ve done in immigrant communities and living abroad. I thought the clinic would be a wonderful opportunity to build off those experiences.”
As practitioners in the clinic, students receive hands-on legal training. They build their knowledge of immigration law and policy, and their interpersonal skills in working with clients.
“The clinic taught me that being an attorney requires compassion and being straightforward with your clients,” Bhakta said. “They are relying on you during a very stressful and unpredictable time in their life.”
“A huge aspect is simply making sure the client doesn’t feel alone and knows they have support,” Pollard added. “The little details and actions go a long way.”

Bhakta was in attendance when her client, Mario, took the Oath of Allegiance at a naturalization ceremony in October. Pollard was at Lilian’s ceremony in November. All three students expressed how rewarding it was to know their client would become a U.S. citizen, not only because it closed a chapter in their lives, but because of what the accomplishment meant for their client’s future.
“Getting to the interview took over a decade and she finally had what she had been seeking,” Pollard said. “There is no longer the same risk her status could be impacted or changed. She has stability now.”