www.negociosnow.com
6 February 2017
A DACA Recipient Lawyer
Ana Alvarado's family immi-
grated to the United States when
she was 8 years old. After gra-
duating from high school, she
enrolled at Northeastern Illinois
University, where she worked
two jobs to pay for college before
graduating with honors in 2006.
Alvarado had always wanted to
be a lawyer but her dream was
frustrated by her status as an un-
documented immigrant.
In 2012, Alvarado applied
and was granted Deferred Ac-
tion for Childhood Arrivals sta-
tus, and in 2013 she enrolled in
the Southern Illinois School of
Law. There, she won first pla-
ce in SIU's intramural moot
court competition and third in
the prestigious Saul Lefkowitz
Moot Court Competition run
by the international Trade-
mark Association. She was the
Moot Court Board Associate
Chief Justice during the 2015-
16 academic year, received
the Women's Bar Foundation
Scholarship in 2015 and was
inducted into the Order of Ba-
rristers in 2016.
During law school, Alvarado
reactivated SIU's Hispanic Law
Student Association, serving as
its vice president and then pre-
sident. She partnered with the
Migrant and Immigrant Action
Project to organize a workshop
helping low-income individuals
apply for DACA. She also volun-
teered with SIU's Self Help Clinic
directing pro se litigants to legal
resources and conducted intake
interviews with individuals at
the Tri-County Detention Center
with the Immigration Detention
Project.
Alvarado became licensed to
practice law in Illinois in 2016,
making her one of the first DACA
recipients to achieve this. She
plans to pursue a career in pu-
blic service with an emphasis on
immigration.
Ana Laura
Alvarado, 34
A hope
named Ana
"T
he word impossible does not
exist when you are willing
to work hard to achieve your
dreams."
