Success Stories

A Q&A with 2019 Graduate Lesly Santos, Immigrant Justice Corps fellow with Catholic Charities

What brought you to law school?

I have known I wanted to be a lawyer since I was very young. Attending law school was always a goal of mine.

Why did you choose Pace Law? 

I chose Pace Law because of the location and the small community. I did the big school thing in undergrad. I wanted a campus with grass and trees. I also was offered a good scholarship, but that was met by schools in the city as well, – what made Pace Law my choice was the campus and community feel.  Also, by the time I was applying to law school, I knew I wanted to focus on immigration law. Pace Law’s Immigration Justice Clinic was also a major attraction to me. Professor Vanessa Merton is very well known for helping law students become great immigration attorneys, and I knew that I wanted the opportunity to work with her. Additionally, I was familiar with the immigrant population in the Lower Hudson Valley, and I knew that Pace Law’s location and faculty would take me to where I wanted to be professionally. 

Were you always interested in public interest work?  

I always knew I wanted to help people, but I didn’t know exactly how. When I got to Pace, I learned about public interest law and from that point on – I was sold. I wanted to be able to help people who needed help but didn’t necessarily have the funds to pay for legal work. Pace Law’s Public Interest Law Center really helped me to understand what public interest law was and how I could be a part of it. Public interest career advising was especially helpful in guiding me through the post-grad application process, prepping me for interviews, and laying out my resume. Professor Elyse Diamond held my hand through the entire process and played a crucial part in preparing me for my Immigrant Justice Corps interview and connected me with other Pace Law grads who have been through the process. 

What specific experiences at Pace do you feel helped to prepare you for a career in public interest law?  

The Immigration Justice Clinic is definitely a clinic that anyone interested in immigration law must take. I’m also glad I took advantage of the Pro Bono Scholars program. The additional work experience that you get is invaluable. Those two programs have taught me the importance of public interest work as well as some of the difficulties.

What is one of your favorite parts of acting as a public interest attorney?

It has to be the relief and gratitude my clients express when I tell them that we are offering them legal representation at no cost. It happens every initial consultation I do and it never gets old because I know that others (both attorneys and non-attorneys) would have charged them sums that they could never afford for the same service. The relief on their faces in realizing that they will receive quality representation is the most gratifying feeling. 

How did it feel to find out that you were selected to be an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow?     

It was amazing! Being selected as an Immigrant Justice Corps fellow was a goal of mine since my first year at Pace. Seeing how excited Professor Elyse Diamond and Professor Vanessa Merton were for me was priceless. I feel like they went through the whole process with me and it was a team accomplishment. As an Immigrant Justice Corps fellow, I will be representing indigent immigrants in the lower Hudson Valley at Catholic Charities – which is where I interned as a student!

In your opinion, what qualities makes a “good” public interest advocate?

I think you just have to genuinely care about the people you are helping. It’s often long hours with little pay, so you have to love what you are doing and care about the people you are helping. I was born and raised in New York City to Dominican immigrants. Growing up in an immigrant household, I was able to observe the difficulties faced by the immigrant community and I’m grateful that I now have the opportunity to help that community. 

Congratulations to 2017 Pace Law alumnus Jonathan W. Campozano, Esq.! Jonathan recently started a new position as an Associate Counsel with the New York State Senate in Albany. While at Pace Law, Jonathan was a student attorney with the Immigration Justice Clinic. After graduating from Pace, Jonathan was an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow with Empire Justice Center. 

Pace Law graduates Craig Relles ’12 and Steven Haskos ’11 have won a path-breaking decision challenging indefinite detention of asylum-seekers without a hearing. This victory is only one of several recently that highlight the outstanding work of students and alums of the Pace Immigration Justice Clinic. For more than a dozen years the Immigration Justice Clinic has provided free representation to indigent immigrants who are facing deportation or seeking to regularize their legal status. 

Mr. Relles and Mr. Haskos’ client, Adou Kouadio, a citizen of the Ivory Coast, asked for asylum at the Texas border in early 2016. For almost three years, his request has remained in limbo while Mr. Kouadio has been detained with no judicial review of the rationale for keeping him in jail. In August 2018, Craig Relles filed a habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In December, a federal judge ruled that ICE had violated his due process rights. As a result of this ruling, Mr. Kouadio finally received a bond hearing, which was successful and he will now be released.  

“Pace Law’s Immigration Justice Clinic provides vital services to immigrants in Westchester and beyond,” said Dean Horace Anderson. “The work this clinic does, along with that of our nationally recognized immigration faculty experts, is second to none. We are proud of the work alumni such as Craig and Steven are doing to ensure that the rights of all those in our society are protected.”

Professor Vanessa Merton, Faculty Supervisor of the Immigration Justice Clinic at Pace Law commented, “Once again, the Law Office of Craig Relles has demonstrated that topnotch advocates can make justice happen, perhaps saving their client’s life in the process. Pace Law School has reason to be proud of the work of Craig Relles and Steven Haskos in securing minimum due process rights for detained immigrants.”  

“We are very happy with Judge Hellerstein's decision and we hope that courts will continue to closely scrutinize the lengthy detention of asylum applicants without a bond hearing. While their rights may be statutorily limited, the Judge sent a clear message with this decision: that due process under the Constitution protects nonresident immigrants arriving at the border,” noted attorney Steven Haskos.

“Securing Mr. Kouadio's release on bond is a just conclusion to his detention saga. Judge Hellerstein recognized that Mr. Kouadio's detention violated due process, and that the remedy was a bond hearing wherein the Government had the burden of establishing that Mr. Kouadio was a danger to the community and a flight risk. While the Immigration Court ordered a bond amount greater than we requested, we are happy that he will be able to enjoy freedom while his asylum appeal is adjudicated” explained Mr. Kouadio’s attorney, Craig Relles.

Craig graduated from Pace Law cum laude in 2012. During his time at Pace, Craig was a Student Attorney in the John Jay Legal Services Immigration Justice Clinic. At graduation, Craig received the Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Student Award. After graduation, Craig was selected as a fellow at the Pace Community Law Practice, a post-graduate program to develop competent, ethical immigration lawyers, where he worked on a variety of legal issues and cases and also learned the ins and outs of successfully opening your own law practice.

Steven Haskos graduated from Pace Law cum laude in 2011. He was a member of the Pace International Law Review in 2010 and 2011, serving in 2011 as the Case Note and Comment Editor. He began working with Craig in 2014, primarily handling habeas corpus petitions and appellate proceedings at the Board of Immigration Appeals, as well as Petitions for Review in the Second Circuit.  Steven works closely with young immigrants seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and other avenues to legal residence and citizenship.

In 2013, Craig launched the Law Office of Craig Relles with one focus in mind: justice for immigrants. The firm is based in White Plains. Working together with Craig and Steven at the firm is Christina Romano, another Pace Law graduate, 2016 cum laude.

W. Paul Alvarez’s (’16) passion for immigration law is rooted in his own immigration story. Paul was born in Ecuador and later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. "My parents believed that the best chance we had for a better life was to immigrate to the United States. We wanted a chance to live the ‘American Dream’ that we had heard so much about. Therefore, my family settled in New York and we assimilated quickly. However, as assimilated as we were, we were still living unlawfully in this country. My father knew that the key to our survival was to obtain lawful status that would allow us to live freely in this country. Through an employment sponsorship, my father was able to obtain permanent resident status for our family. I knew at that moment that our life had changed because becoming a permanent resident of the United States would open so many different opportunities for my family. There and then I knew that I wanted to help other immigrants achieve the ‘American Dream’ that I was blessed to have been given."

From that point, every educational step that Paul took was with the motivation to become someone who could help others achieve their "American Dream" as he and his family had achieved theirs. Attending SUNY Oneonta, Paul was a political science and Spanish major. He was frequently on the Dean’s List, a member of the pre-law society and President of the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon. "I knew that my ultimate journey would be law school."

After receiving his Bachelor’s degree, Paul decided to help run his family owned business, Alvarez Cleaning Service, Inc. To date, he has served as an owner, manager, and bookkeeper for the company. In 2016 he was awarded Business Person of the Year by the Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce. While still working for his family business, Paul also applied for and was offered a paralegal position at Julie Mullaney Attorney at Law, a small law firm in Westchester, focusing on immigration law. "It was great experience. I was able to see what an immigration attorney did from A to Z, ranging from larger issues to day-to-day issues. And, most importantly, it re-solidified my desire to attend law school and become an immigration attorney."

As for choosing Pace Law – "it just made sense," and had everything Paul was looking for – from location in Westchester, but close to New York City to a top-notch immigration law program featuring practical and classroom learning. While at Pace, Paul immersed himself in as much as he was able. "I was a member of the Pace Law Advocacy Honor Board as the Director of Internal Competitions; I participated in every oral advocacy competition that I was able – from immigration, to criminal law, to sports arbitration. I was the president and one of the founding members of the Immigration Law Student Organization, Vice-President of the Public Interest Law Student Organization and the Vice President of the Latin American Law Students Association, a representative for BARBRI, and Admissions Ambassador and Mentor, part of the Faculty-Student band, and player on the Pace intramural soccer team. I looked at every opportunity as a way to broaden my perspective and meet new people. And, I was fortunate to have so many opportunities."

Significantly, while Paul was at Pace he was a student attorney with the Pace Criminal Justice Clinic and the Pace Immigration Justice Clinic. He gained practical, hands-on, real-life, attorney experience through both of these opportunities. "I was doing things in these Clinics that most law students experience for the first time only as admitted attorneys. It was fascinating." His three most influential professors in law school were Vanessa Merton, David Dorfman and Lou Fasulo because each one of them taught him so many important lessons on becoming a zealous attorney that he will carry on for the rest of his career.

Today, Paul is an Associate Attorney at the office of Julie Mullaney Attorney at Law, the same firm that gave him his start as a paralegal before attending Law School. "I have worked in the immigration field as a paralegal, law clerk, and now an attorney for the last ten years. I have experience representing detained and non-detained clients in a variety of immigration matters. While working in the immigration field, one recurring theme that I have observed is the lack of knowledge that immigrants have regarding their rights. It is sad and frustrating to see that the lives of many immigrants are put in jeopardy because they either did not understand the gravity of their situation or they were taken advantage of by "notarios" who prey on the vulnerability of immigrants. My mission has been to guide my clients in the complex immigration matters and to coordinate community outreach programs that inform immigrants about their rights and opportunities for immigration relief. In this very difficult immigration climate, I’m willing to do everything that I can to keep families together."

Paul is also involved in various legal organizations – he is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Westchester County Bar Association. Within the New York Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) he has served as the Secretary of the Student Liaison Committee and is also a member of the Citizenship Day Committee and a member of the UPL and Ethics Committee.

In his spare time, Paul enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He is die-hard Yankee fan who also roots for the NY Giants and Rangers. He is enjoys playing in recreational soccer and kickball leagues.