{"id":84847,"date":"2021-10-27T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=84847"},"modified":"2021-10-27T09:20:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T13:20:13","slug":"a-passion-for-public-service","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2021\/a-passion-for-public-service\/","title":{"rendered":"A Passion for Public Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-flip has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-quaternary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Miosotti Tenecora\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-scaled.jpg 1707w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-424x636.jpg 424w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-551x826.jpg 551w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-455x682.jpg 455w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-688x1032.jpg 688w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-881x1321.jpg 881w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-353x529.jpg 353w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-459x688.jpg 459w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-705x1058.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-909x1364.jpg 909w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-1101x1652.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-1376x2064.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-1761x2642.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-001-667x1000.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photos by Dana Smith for Boston University Photography<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Alumni<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Passion for Public Service\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Public Interest Scholarship recipient Miosotti Tenecora (\u201919), an immigration attorney and advocate, came to BU Law with an extensive background in public service.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">October 27, 2021<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/rebecca-beyer\/\">Rebecca Beyer<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-dimensional has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-quaternary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>When&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/miosotti-tenecora-49801238\/\" target=\"_blank\">Miosotti Tenecora<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201919) was a junior accounting major in college, she turned down an internship with a Big Four accounting firm because it didn\u2019t feel right. Instead, she \u201cscrambled\u201d to apply for\u2014and obtain\u2014a position at the Brooklyn District Attorney\u2019s Office, her first public service role apart from volunteer experience.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>She never looked back. By the time Tenecora arrived at Boston University School of Law, she had interned, worked, or volunteered at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, two different organizations that assist survivors of domestic violence, the Permanent Mission for the Principality of Andorra to the United Nations, and a New York City Council member.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy career trajectory is different than most,\u201d she laughed in a recent interview.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For her early\u2014and consistent\u2014commitment to public service, BU Law awarded Tenecora a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/admissions-aid\/financialaid\/scholarships\/public-interest-scholarships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Interest Scholarship<\/a>, which covers tuition in full for students who have demonstrated a desire to pursue a career in public interest law. And her trajectory hasn\u2019t changed. While on campus, she pursued a wide range of public service internships and clinics. After graduating, she took a two-year fellowship in the immigration program of Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, where she was hired in April as a full-time staff attorney focused on representing clients and advocating for immigration reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur mission is to provide transformative legal services,\u201d she says. \u201cI represent immigrants, and I tie in advocacy work in the hopes that we can get better laws that suit our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A first-generation college student raised in the Bronx, New York, by a single mother from the Dominican Republic, Tenecora says she originally studied accounting because she wanted to be sure she could earn a living to help support her family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll I wanted was a lucrative career to give back to my family and my community,\u201d she says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really thinking about my specific interests or what I like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During her senior year of college at Fordham University, Tenecora began thinking about law school. A professor recommended she take time off to make sure a law degree was what she wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI took it to heart,\u201d she says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style-modern has-image-focus-center-middle has-quaternary-theme has-dark-theme-text\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">\u201cAs an immigration attorney, I want the moon. The US immigration system is inherently negative, based on a very harmful narrative of the good immigrant versus the bad immigrant. We have a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Miosotti Tenecora<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For two years, she worked in the clerk\u2019s office in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, managing procedural inquiries from attorneys and judges and scheduling the criminal justice panel. Then, because she wanted to travel, she enrolled in Concordia University Irvine\u2019s international relations master\u2019s program. She spent 18 months living in Shanghai, writing her thesis on Chinese college students\u2019 perceptions of domestic violence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time she was ready to apply, BU Law fit her two basic criteria:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted to get away from New York, and I also wanted to get a scholarship,\u201d she explains. \u201cI knew I couldn\u2019t afford law school in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On campus, Tenecora enjoyed her courses\u2014especially a constitutional law class with Professor Emerita&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/pnina-lahav\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pnina Lahav<\/a>\u2014but initially felt out of place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn my first year, I really struggled, and it wasn\u2019t academically,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was more like I felt alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the spring semester of her first year, Tenecora created a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2018\/creating-community-miosotti-tenecora\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">First-Generation Professionals Group<\/a>, which had more than 60 members by the end of that school year. She also says she appreciated her time with then-Professor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.berkeley.edu\/our-faculty\/faculty-profiles\/khiara-bridges\/#tab_profile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Khiara M. Bridges<\/a>&nbsp;(now at UC Berkeley School of Law).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe not only knew her substantive material; she was also a role model as a woman of color,\u201d she says. \u201cAs you climb the ladder, you see less and less people of color. She was just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tenecora enrolled in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/international-human-rights-clinic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">International Human Rights Clinic<\/a>, for which she spent two weeks in Guatemala conducting research for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2019\/seeking-answers-for-families-of-disappeared-migrants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a report on migrant disappearances<\/a>, and spent a semester working with asylum seekers in the Dominican Republic for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as part of BU Law\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/externships\/semester-in-practice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Semester-in-Practice Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also interned at the Office of the Bronx District Attorney and researched universal basic income programs for a Massachusetts state senator as a student in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/policy-drafting-clinic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Legislative Drafting &amp; Policy Clinic<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says immigration law appeals to her because of the multi-faceted nature of the work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t just say \u2018immigration,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s racism, it\u2019s poverty, it\u2019s criminal law. I knew if I went into immigration law, I was going to hit those issues I\u2019m passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay record-block-editorial-photoessay alignwide wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-full-f\">\n<div class=\"photo-f\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"835\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1024x835.jpg\" alt=\"Miosotti Tenecora\" class=\"wp-image-84849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1024x835.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-636x518.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-768x626.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1536x1252.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-2048x1669.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1014x826.jpg 1014w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-837x682.jpg 837w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1266x1032.jpg 1266w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1621x1321.jpg 1621w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-422x344.jpg 422w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-649x529.jpg 649w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-844x688.jpg 844w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1298x1058.jpg 1298w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1674x1364.jpg 1674w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-2027x1652.jpg 2027w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/10\/18-1099-LAWFEAT3-005-1227x1000.jpg 1227w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, in addition to representing low-income juvenile and adult clients in immigration matters, Tenecora has worked to stop transfers from the San Mateo County Sheriff\u2019s Office to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She\u2019s also met with representatives of US Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein and US Representatives Jackie Speier and Zoe Lofgren to discuss how to address a backlog in the system for special immigrant juvenile status visas and legislation for the so-called Dreamers, who have been allowed to stay in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says BU Law\u2019s Public Interest Scholarship gave her \u201cmore financial freedom\u201d in her career choices and that she benefitted from the sense of community the program created through breakfasts, dinners, and other events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBU Law made an effort to guide the Public Interest Scholars in whatever career they wanted,\u201d she remembers. \u201cThere were really good programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the future, Tenecora says she hopes to do more work in policy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cAs an immigration attorney, I want the moon,\u201d she says in reference to immigration reform. \u201cThe US immigration system is inherently negative, based on a very harmful narrative of the good immigrant versus the bad immigrant. We have a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Miosotti Tenecora (\u201919) was a junior accounting major in college, she turned down an internship with a Big Four accounting firm because it didn\u2019t feel right. Instead, she \u201cscrambled\u201d to apply for\u2014and obtain\u2014a position at the Brooklyn District Attorney\u2019s Office, her first public service role apart from volunteer experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18183,"featured_media":84849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Alumni","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[761],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3918,3744,3768,3786],"record-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/84847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84847"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/84847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84885,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/84847\/revisions\/84885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84847"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=84847"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=84847"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=84847"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=84847"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=84847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}