Where are they now?: Natali Soto
In the “Where are they now?” series, we introduce you to former IJC Fellows and share their stories — how they became a Fellow and how their Fellowship experience informs their work today.
Natali Soto, a 2017 Justice Fellow with Sanctuary for Families, is a Senior Program Associate with the Acacia Center for Justice. After her fellowship, Natali worked at Brooklyn Defender Services and Ascentria Care Alliance in Worcester, MA.
What are you most proud of from your time as a Fellow?
I’m really proud of how I treated my clients. I put my all into it. I really loved working with the clients. I had a great team and the community of IJC Fellows was also really helpful, but meeting with clients was my absolute favorite part of the day, of the week, of the job itself. It has continued to be even after the fellowship. I’m proud of how I took all of the zealous advocacy that was ingrained in me in clinic and in the fellowship training, and I put that into action as best as I could.
What was one takeaway from the fellowship?
The importance of the immigration advocacy community really stood out – I think that was the biggest takeaway for me. The Fellow and alumni listserv was always a helpful resource. Even if I didn’t have a question, being able to read other people’s questions was so helpful. I know that listservs are just a big part of the immigration lawyer’s community, but the IJC one felt like a safe space to ask anything and everything and you wouldn’t be judged. There are so many new practitioners on there, and I feel like we all protected our own.
I’ve taken a lot of calls from law students at my alma mater who are interested in the fellowship. I have no idea who they are, but I talk with them because that’s the help that I got. There are so many other fellowships, but everyone has their different projects or their different areas of law. Because IJC is only focused on immigration, it helps to create bonds among Fellows and alumni. That’s one of the first things I tell people when they’re on the fence about applying – the network and the connections you are going to make are so invaluable.
Do you have any memories that stand out from your time as a Fellow?
There are a few cases that stick out to me, particularly some asylum ones. I won a few asylum cases that felt so impossible to win. I obviously didn’t do it by myself, I had an awesome team to help me out and awesome supervisors, but those wins just make me look so fondly on the fellowship. Those asylum cases take so much time and energy and effort, and then when you receive a grant, it’s the best feeling in the world for you and your client. You’ve secured safety for your client. There is so much humility involved that this client trusted you with their legal case and trusted you enough to open up to you and to talk to you about intimate details that they wouldn’t otherwise share. It humbles you, especially when you’re a new practicing attorney. Even if you don’t win, but you just do a really good job in court, you feel so proud of yourself. Of course you have moments of doubt, but when you represent someone with dignity in court and gave them a voice in this really horrible system, it feels really great.
