Each January, approximately 70 Texas Law students travel to South Texas to participate in law-related volunteer projects. The trip is organized by the Pro Bono in January Leadership Team, in collaboration with the Mithoff Program. This trip, PBinJ, took Texas Law students outside of Austin to a rapidly growing region near the Texas-Mexico border that is dynamic but also has significant unmet legal needs.
PBinJ 2019 took place January 12-18, 2019. Past trip projects have involved students in law-related work such as interviewing clients; hosting legal clinics; and researching, drafting, and translating legal documents. This year, students engaged in a variety of projects involving similar work in collaboration with the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR), the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA). Students work on assigned project(s) for at least 8 hours a day, including some evening hours during the duration of the trip. Students also attend all planned activities during the week, including trainings, community field trips, and receptions.
Cristina Garcia-Chappell (LL.M. expected 2019) relished the opportunity to participate in PBinJ2019. Cristina, who earned her first law degree in Mexico, is a student in the Master of Laws Program at The University of Texas School of Law. She is earning her LL.M. in the U.S. Law for Foreign Lawyers Concentration with special emphasis on immigration law. When asked about her experience in PBinJ2019, Cristina said “The ProBono week is an excellent opportunity to give back to the Hispanic community in this country. We don’t realize how lucky we are until we heard our clients’ stories. These immigrants are brave and resilient; they are doing everything in their power to keep their kids away from the extreme violence they are living in their home country.”