Mireya Tinoco (’17) Selected as a Department of Justice Honors Fellow
The fourth BU Law student awarded the fellowship in as many years, Tinoco will work with the Immigration Court in Port Isabel, Texas.
Mireya Tinoco (’17), a 3L with Boston University School of Law, will begin her law career as a fellow with the prestigious Department of Justice Attorney General’s Honors Program. As “the largest and most prestigious federal entry-level attorney hiring program of its kind,” the DOJ makes selections based on a variety of elements that include a demonstrated commitment to government service, academic achievement, and leadership.
A native of Mexico, Tinoco graduated from California State University San Marcos with a Political Science degree and the goal of entering law school. “It was around fifth grade, when I started to realize the impact lawyers can have in effecting social change, that I decided I wanted to go to law school,” Tinoco says. “Knowing that I could, one day, do something to make the world a better place was my motivation to get through my undergraduate studies and into law school.”
After completing her undergraduate degree, Tinoco continued working full time with a large bank, while interning with the JusticeCorps in her spare time. Working at the Family Law Facilitator’s Office at the Vista, California courthouse, she primarily helped low-income families navigate the court system.
Tinoco was especially drawn to the clinical opportunities available at BU Law when she made the decision to attend law school. Initially, she was interested in the Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic, but she changed course after volunteering for PAIR (Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project) throughout her 1L year. With the project, she helped translate for a case and several interviews, which led her to focus more on immigration law and eventually participate in the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC) during her 2L year.
“As an immigrant myself, I’ve grown up in communities greatly affected by immigration laws,” Tinoco says. “I know what it looks like on the ground, so being able to examine it through a legal lens has always appealed to me.”
With the IRC, Tinoco was afforded a two-pronged learning experience with both class instruction and fieldwork. During her time with the clinic, Tinoco was a part of a team representing a Russian immigrant seeking asylum in the United States after facing persecution. After her extensive work on the case, their client, “Helen,” was granted asylum last June.
Moving forward, Tinoco will be working with the Port Isabel Immigration Court in Texas as part of the DOJ Honors Fellowship. She will be working with judges, researching legal decisions, and drafting opinions. After the two-year fellowship is over, Tinoco would like to continue to work as an immigration attorney. “I am most excited that the fellowship will allow me to explore the different parts of immigration law,” Tinoco says. “It will help me decide which area I will focus on in the future.”
“BU Law is such a holistic program,” she says. “I feel confident saying that if I were to pick up a case today I would know where to start.”
Reported by Matthew Fils-Aime (COM’16)
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