Date August 22, 2024
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Jasmin Elias Contreras: Supporting immigrant communities in Rhode Island

Through a summer internship at the nonprofit organization Progreso Latino, the rising Brown sophomore is assisting local community members who are navigating questions related to immigration.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Even as a young child, Jasmin Elias Contreras understood how immigration affects lives.

Her parents — along with many members of her community, an agricultural area in Oregon — are immigrants from Mexico, and growing up, she saw firsthand the joys and struggles that families like hers experienced.

“Immigration has always been in the back of my mind,” said Contreras, a rising Brown University sophomore who is the first in her family to attend college. “Where I come from, many people come from low-income backgrounds, there are migrant workers constantly coming to work in the fields, and there is this sense that everyone’s working really hard to provide a better future for their families.”

This summer, through an internship at Progreso Latino, a social services nonprofit based in Central Falls, Rhode Island, Contreras is immersed in learning about another immigrant population: Rhode Island’s Hispanic and immigrant community. Through the role, she is getting a crash course in the legal aspects of immigration and has been able to use her new knowledge and experience to help others.

Jasmin Elias Contreras
Jasmin Elias Contreras

“This opportunity aligned well not only with my personal background, but also my interest in community engagement and social justice,” said Contreras, who grew up in the Dalles, Oregon, and is fluent in both English and Spanish. “The organization has been key to helping immigrant and Latino communities sustain and empower themselves.”

The internship, which she secured through the SPRINT-iProv summer fellowship program, a joint project of the University’s Swearer Center and Brown Center for Career Exploration, has provided Contreras with in-depth work experience at Progreso Latino. The organization’s immigration arm offers consultations and low-cost services for community members, including assistance filing citizenship petitions, applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (commonly referred to as DACA) renewals and completing applications for naturalization. Her duties have included answering phone calls from those looking for information; filing legal applications; translating documents from Spanish to English; conducting immigration grant research; contacting potential donors to the organization; and designing promotional materials for the organization’s 2024 fundraising gala.

A typical day on the job might involve fielding calls about a range of questions, from inquiries about services to more specific ones, like how to file an immigration petition for a family member, or the status of an immigration case.

“Immigration is a long process, so the office spends a lot of time keeping up with cases and making sure that people are well informed,” Contreras said.

While much of the work has been challenging and engaging, her favorite aspect of the internship has been the opportunity to closely observe and to listen to her co-workers and the families seeking help navigating the complexities of immigration.

“I’ve been absorbing so much knowledge about immigration on a national level, various laws and policies,” she said. “And people’s personal stories are really memorable and relatable for me — there is a lot of trust involved with seeking help with immigration, so it’s an honor to be able to listen and help.”

In Progreso Latino’s busy office, she has also enjoyed learning about Spanish-speaking cultures that differ from her own Mexican American background.

“Being in diverse spaces where everybody’s welcome is something that’s very important to me,” she said. “In the office, everybody comes from some sort of immigrant background and speaks Spanish, but it’s not the same Spanish, so I’m happy to be constantly learning new words and cultural traditions from people from different parts of the world, including many countries in Central and South America.”  

The most challenging aspect of the summer role, she said, has been the instances when she has had to convey that the organization, unfortunately, cannot help someone with a particular immigration case.

“We don’t do asylum cases, so it’s very disheartening when people call asking for help with that,” she said. “But we still refer them to other organizations that may be able to help them.”

Outside of the internship, Contreras stays connected with the Providence community throughout the academic year as a Bonner Community Fellow. The four-year program, run by Brown’s Swearer Center, offers fellows various short- and long-term volunteer and civic engagement opportunities, among other experiences. She also regularly mentors students from her high school in Oregon.

Contreras, who has yet to decide on an undergradaute concentration but is leaning toward economics and sociology, said the internship has deepened her interest in pursuing a career that involves helping others. She will wrap up her summer at home, where she will be able to share her internship experience with her parents and others in her hometown.

“My time at Progreso Latino has given me a rich new perspective on a familiar topic,” Contreras said.  “I’m taking this experience as a lesson and a reminder to support the community I’m in and where I come from.”