Jasmin Elias Contreras: Supporting immigrant communities in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - Even as a young child, Jasmin Elias Contreras understood how immigration affects lives.

Her parents - along with many members of her community, an agricultural area in Oregon - are immigrants from Mexico, and growing up, she saw firsthand the joys and struggles that families like hers experienced.

"Immigration has always been in the back of my mind," said Contreras, a rising Brown University sophomore who is the first in her family to attend college. "Where I come from, many people come from low-income backgrounds, there are migrant workers constantly coming to work in the fields, and there is this sense that everyone's working really hard to provide a better future for their families."

This summer, through an internship at Progreso Latino, a social services nonprofit based in Central Falls, Rhode Island, Contreras is immersed in learning about another immigrant population: Rhode Island's Hispanic and immigrant community. Through the role, she is getting a crash course in the legal aspects of immigration and has been able to use her new knowledge and experience to help others.

"This opportunity aligned well not only with my personal background, but also my interest in community engagement and social justice," said Contreras, who grew up in the Dalles, Oregon, and is fluent in both English and Spanish. "The organization has been key to helping immigrant and Latino communities sustain and empower themselves."

The internship, which she secured through the SPRINT-iProv summer fellowship program, a joint project of the University's Swearer Center and Brown Center for Career Exploration, has provided Contreras with in-depth work experience at Progreso Latino. The organization's immigration arm offers consultations and low-cost services for community members, including assistance filing citizenship petitions, applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (commonly referred to as DACA) renewals and completing applications for naturalization. Her duties have included answering phone calls from those looking for information; filing legal applications; translating documents from Spanish to English; conducting immigration grant research; contacting potential donors to the organization; and designing promotional materials for the organization's 2024 fundraising gala.

A typical day on the job might involve fielding calls about a range of questions, from inquiries about services to more specific ones, like how to file an immigration petition for a family member, or the status of an immigration case.

"Immigration is a long process, so the office spends a lot of time keeping up with cases and making sure that people are well informed," Contreras said.