The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University has created the Vanessa Merton Immigration Justice Fellowship, a key component of the school’s Immigration Justice Clinicfocused on ensuring the legal system’s just treatment of immigrants in the Hudson Valley and local New York Metropolitan region. Barbara Sarmiento, a 2024 graduate of Haub Law, has been selected to serve as the program’s inaugural fellow beginning this fall.
Through the generosity of her family, the Immigration Justice Fellowship was established in honor of Professor Vanessa Merton, founder and recently retired director of the Immigration Justice Clinic. She has been a visionary providing leadership and advocacy in support of the clinic’s important mission for nearly two decades. The Fellow will serve as a liaison between the clinic, immigration organizations and the migrant community helping to connect those in need with free legal services, resources or referrals.
A former paralegal, Sarmiento first joined Haub Law in 2018 as the Immigration Justice Clinic administrator and an assistant clinic administrator for John Jay Legal Services, the not-for-profit legal services firm that houses and runs the clinic and externship programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. Working closely under the auspices of Merton, she was responsible for leading orientation and training for legal interns, supporting interns with their case management, and often worked directly with clients as a Spanish translator. “Professor Merton has had a profound effect on my life,” said Sarmiento. “I have always been impressed by her extraordinary intellect, knowledge of the law and passion as an advocate for immigrant rights. She has been an inspiration to so many students, like myself, demonstrating the hard work needed to represent clients well and further their interests.”
Realizing the vast need for immigration lawyers, it was this experience at the clinic and with faculty such as Merton, that inspired Sarmiento’s interest in a law degree “to be able to do more to help clients.” As a part-time flex student, she has pursued her law degree at Haub Law for the past four years, all while juggling roles at the clinic and an internship at the Empire Justice Center. She is currently preparing to take the bar exam and looks forward to joining the clinic in her new capacity as Immigration Justice Fellow this fall.
