“I have gotten to witness firsthand the trauma that it causes to people…all folks that have had abuse in detention. Money helps but money does not take away the trauma that people experience from being subjected to this kind of abuse and misconduct.”
On this episode of Immigration Today! Angeline Chen interviews Trina Realmuto, the Executive Director at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance. With over twenty years of experience in immigration, damages, and transparency litigation in federal courts, Trina has litigated and argued several precedent decisions and is a frequent presenter on immigration issues. Most recently, Trina was a Directing Attorney of Litigation at the American Immigration Council, the Litigation Director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and as a consulting attorney to the Council. She has done great work abroad representing noncitizens applying for visas at U.S. embassies and consulates and has even won awards for her excellence in immigration litigation.
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Trina became acquainted with immigrant struggles from a very young age. Her mother grew up in the outskirts of rural New York and Trina’s grandfather was a farmer who had some onion fields. Trina’s mother would pick onions with the migrant workers. There she grew a strong appreciation for the hard work that these migrant workers did and instilled these values to her children. Trina later went to law school and started working with migrant farmers herself through “know your rights” presentations herself which further exposed her to her career in immigration law.
Specifically, she fights cases under the Federal Tort Claims Act which is a statute that allows people to make claims against the federal government for damages on account of mistreatment at the hands of federal officers. Trina works with these type of claims to make real systemic change which has a lasting impact in the future of immigration policies for all. Trina is an inspiration to many and an example of what it means to fight for immigrant rights.
If you want to support the National Immigration Litigation Alliance please consider donating via their website. You can even join their Strategic Assistance program for more in depth detail of the wonderful work they do!