Thursday, 3 June 2010

Immigration work comes full circle for CU-Boulder student


visa CAAI News Media

Melissa Khat, whose parents fled from genocide in Cambodia, now interns at immigrant law center

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer
Posted: 06/02/2010

Melissa Khat jokes with co-workers Wednesday afternoon at the Immigrant Legal Center of Boulder County. Khat, a University of Colorado senior studying international affairs, received an internship through the Public Interest Internship Experience, and works to help immigrants with their legal issues. ( Greg Lindstrom )

University of Colorado student Melissa Khat's parents immigrated to the United States in the 1970s to escape the killing fields of Cambodia, where millions died.

Khat's mother learned the English alphabet as her American classmates studied for their driving tests. Her mother, 15 at the time, was teased for her foreign accent. And, Khat said, her parents eventually became tangled in a lawsuit but with a bare understanding of the legal system in the states.

Her family's own first-hand accounts as new immigrants seemed to fit well into the internship application that she wrote last year explaining why she wanted to work for an immigration legal center.

Khat is one of eight CU students selected for a competitive program that encourages students interested in civic engagement to intern at nonprofits over the summer. Khat is in her second week of an internship at the Immigrant Legal Center of Boulder County.

"I grew up hearing these stories about how difficult it was for immigrants to live in the U.S. and how (my parents) had to start from scratch," Khat said. "I felt I could put myself in their shoes and know how they feel."

Earlier in her college career, the international affairs major traveled to El Paso, Texas, and Mexico and heard from Mexican immigrants who told her they want better lives in America, but don't feel welcome in the country. She took a road trip to Arizona to boycott the nation's strictest immigration enforcement laws. Two summers ago, she traveled to Cambodia to meet her family. Khat saw her mother cry when the plane landed in the country she hadn't seen since fleeing the genocide.

Immigration has captured Khat on an emotional level.

"Now I want a better understanding from the legal aspect," she said.

CU's "Public Interest Internship Experience" program -- or PIIE -- started five years ago, and has provided stipends to students who find unpaid internships at nonprofits or government agencies.

The program is modeled after Princeton University's "Project 55 Program," said Peter Simons, director of CU's Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement.

This year, 60 students applied for CU's program, which provides a $4,320 stipend for a nine-week internship. The program is funded with private donations, Simons said.

CU is looking to expand the program so that grants can be awarded to 20 to 30 students every summer.

Beginning next year, the university will partner with nonprofits and agencies -- which will be required to contribute to the internship stipend -- then assign students to internships. Students now find internships on their own and apply for the grants.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com .

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