Florida Atlantic University’s Brazilian Student Organization (BRASA) chapter hosted FAU alumna and immigration lawyer, Jamile Moraes Pellicer, to discuss her experience living as an immigrant and her work as an immigration attorney on Thursday.
Pellicer is a Brazilian immigrant who moved to South Florida as a teenager. Her goal when speaking to BRASA was not only to discuss current immigration issues from her perspective, but also to encourage anyone who might be an immigrant like her that the American dream is still attainable.
BRASA is an organization that provides FAU students with opportunities to gather and celebrate a shared culture. It also offers all FAU students the chance to learn about and acknowledge the history and contributions of Brazilian culture. This club serves a portion of the 2,600 international students who attend FAU.
“[It would] be wonderful for us to bring an immigration lawyer and kind of calm worries. First, ask questions for her to educate us on what it would be like to go to law school because BRASA is about facilitating connections and networking for all fields,” Tamiris Fregona, the director of events and partnerships and treasurer for BRASA, stated.
Fregona also manages partnerships for BRASA through networking events and by working with companies to help the club increase its membership. Currently, Fregona is partnering with 360 Immigration Law Group, the law firm founded by Pellicer. Pellicer’s legal work was the reason she was invited to speak.
“If I could go back in time and talk to myself in your shoes, I feel like what I have now is so unattainable. If you told me when I was 20 that at 40 I would have a family, a firm with 20 employees, that I would travel all these countries, and an American passport … I would think you were talking about somebody else,” Pellicer stated.
Pellicer spoke about her initial struggles with higher education because she was not a citizen: “I could not get into college, get Bright Futures or Social Security because I didn’t have a green card.“ The only way Pellicer was able to attend college was by attending Broward College and paying out-of-state tuition.
She found a cash-paying job and took one or two classes per semester to begin her college education. But Pellicer eventually graduated from FAU with her bachelor’s degree in five years. In 2009, she started law school at Nova Southeastern University, where she graduated in three years.
In 2012, Pellicer was waiting for her green card to apply to the Florida Bar, but it never arrived. She called immigration and spoke with an agent who helped her obtain her green card, which allowed her to apply for citizenship while she was studying for the Florida Bar. Pellicer passed the bar on her first attempt.
“Sometimes when I’m dealing with a client, and all they know is being here and undocumented, they don’t know any better … So I have to show them what life would be like if they had that green card,” Pellicer stated. Pellicer wants to highlight the benefits of having citizenship, such as being able to visit family or even bring loved ones to see them.
Pellicer also discussed how the current administration has affected the process of applying for your immigration status: “I have to set a lot of boundaries with my clients because every time Trump says something [regarding immigration status] everybody calls my office freaking out,” Pellicer stated, “Because for me to talk every day about something Trump said you would have to charge $1 million on my retainer … if something changes in your case, I will let you know.”
Pellicer said some immigrants declined her services two years ago, but later learned the green card process had become more difficult. Despite this, she remains committed to helping clients pursue opportunities to live legally in the United States.
Thaynara De Souza, the secretary of BRASA, was the primary reason Pellicer spoke at Thursday’s meeting, as Pellicer had represented Souza’s mother in the past.
Levi Hylton is a Contributing Writer for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, contact Hylton at [email protected].
