Erika is a founding member of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project – a coordinated network of law students and lawyers defending women and children seeking asylum, which she helped organize as a student at Yale Law School. Through her work with the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, Erika developed a deep understanding of the barriers that immigrants face in advocating for themselves. After graduating law school, Erika clerked at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and with a Federal District Court Judge in Delaware. As a law clerk, Erika witnessed immigrants poorly represented by counsel, and immigrants who were forced to defend themselves because they could not afford counsel, struggle to develop the legal basis for their claims, and how the limited scope of judicial review constrains federal courts from granting relief. As a volunteer with Mighty Writers, Erika mentored a second-grade student born in the U.S. to undocumented parents. Her student’s parents spoke of their fears of deportation and their confusion over the changing legal regime, as well as the traumatizing effects of the political climate on their community. Her personal and professional experiences have deepened her commitment to use her law degree to defend undocumented immigrants and their families. Erika is placed with The Bronx Defenders advocating for detained clients in New York City and for immigrant members of the community in the Bronx.
