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“I knew I wanted to be a lawyer ever since I knew what a lawyer was,” says Jeidy Par ’22, a first-generation college student of Guatemalan heritage. “That goal stemmed from my dad’s deportation in 2008. It was a pretty big dream for an eight-year-old girl from Central Falls in very difficult circumstances.”

After her father’s deportation, her mother took on multiple jobs to provide for her children. At age 16, Par gave birth to her own daughter. It was a life-changing experience, she says, both because her child was premature and because she had to undergo an emergency C section.

Par contended with postpartum depression after giving birth. While completing her senior year of high school, she took on multiple part-time service jobs to provide for her child.

“I would go to school from 8 to 3, work from 5 to 10 and then come home and work on homework from 11 to 3,” she says. Despite the stress, Par’s love for her child kept her going. “I could give up on myself, but I couldn’t give up on my daughter who is 100 percent dependent on me.” 

“Whatever I do is for my child,” she adds, “so she’ll be able to go to school and gain more access to other opportunities. Getting my foot in the door allows me to prop it open for her.” 

Par completed her first two years of college at CCRI while working full time, before transferring to �鶹ԭ��. She graduated from �鶹ԭ�� this May with a double major in political science and public administration and with a Certificate of Undergraduate Study in international nongovernmental organization studies. During her senior year, she was able to find child care for her daughter at �鶹ԭ��’s Cooperative Preschool and visit her between classes. She also served as secretary on the board.

During her tenure at �鶹ԭ��, she interned at the Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International. She still interns at Amnesty International and works at a law firm in downtown Providence while studying for the LSAT exam. Her goal is to become an immigration lawyer.

“I think about when I was eight years old and would go to Bristol County Jail to see my father. It was a very traumatic experience seeing him in an orange jumpsuit and shackles.”

“Kids themselves are in these systems with no voice, with no one there for them,” she notes. “They’re 100 percent alone and scared and what they need is a voice. That’s something that I would like to be a part of.”

By becoming an immigration lawyer, Par intends to help those like her father – people who immigrated to this country, worked for many years and built their families and lives here, but face deportation. She also wants to fight for children who are stuck in the immigration system without their parents.

Though the journey for Par has been an arduous one, it has also been extremely rewarding, she says.