Students Take Close Look at Immigration Laws

Political science professor partners with Waterbury law practice to give students ‘eye-opening’ experience assisting immigrants

Key Highlights

• Sacred Heart University political science students gained real-world exposure to immigration law through a new service-learning partnership with the Law Offices of James A. Welcome
• Students in Professor Kathleen O’Gara’s migration and American foreign policy courses completed 15 hours of community service as part of their coursework during the spring and fall 2025 semesters
• This marked the first collaboration between O’Gara and the law firm, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from both students and attorneys

Sacred Heart University students in Kathleen O'Gara's political science classes recently got hands-on experience working with an established Connecticut law firm, which offered an “eye-opening” and sometimes “sobering” look at immigration laws and procedures.

O’Gara’s migration and membership and American foreign policy classes were offered as service-learning courses in the spring and fall of 2025, meaning students were required to fulfill 15 hours of service in the community. Many of O’Gara’s students volunteered at the Waterbury office of the Law Offices of James A. Welcome, an immigration and personal injury law firm with six locations across Connecticut.

This was the first time O’Gara partnered with the firm, and the feedback from students was positive. Students worked on real-life immigration cases, many compiling research for the attorneys to assist with their cases.

“There was purpose and meaning behind this work,” O’Gara said. She could have taught the courses in the traditional way, focusing solely on lecturing and providing cases and policies to study, but she said the service-learning aspect enabled students to see real immigration cases firsthand.

“It’s so much more important to show rather than tell,” O’Gara said. Students kept reflection journals and wrote about their interactions at the law firm. “These experiences really help make connections to what’s going on in the real world,” O’Gara said.

Many of the students wrote research papers or briefs on a variety of countries so that when new clients came to the firm, the lawyers could review the country’s background, policies and other factors pertinent to their cases. The reports were valuable, said Marina Brakefield, an immigration attorney with decades of experience and a senior attorney at the firm.

Brakefield said the experiences students had working with the lawyers and their immigration clients were “eye-opening.” When clients came into the office, they shared their stories, their hardships. “It is really sobering to hear their perspectives and their journeys. Students heard what they were witnessing and experiencing in [their] attempt to find a better life,” Brakefield said.

Junior Elle Yurkstas, 21, a pre-law and political science major from Mansfield, MA, worked directly with Brakefield. She spoke with clients, helped with witness testimony, looked up cases and conducted research.

“Honestly, the first day I went through the doors, it clicked. It solidified what I was meant to do—to be a lawyer,” she said.

In addition to the mentorship and the skills she acquired volunteering at the law firm, Yurkstas said she appreciated the opportunity to learn more about immigration. She heard about the difficult living conditions many immigrants faced and how they simply wanted a better life in America. “They lived through war and serious danger,” Yurkstas said. The interactions provided her with increased empathy: she was able to step back and put herself in their shoes.

Sitting in with clients also enabled students to perfect their active listening and social skills and take notes for various documents. “What these students witnessed was real, not what they see on TV,” Brakefield said.

All the student volunteers were dedicated to the work; they produced excellent research, and Brakefield said she was pleased everything went so well. Between the two classes, more than two dozen students volunteered at the firm, and Brakefield said she hopes to collaborate with SHU students from O’Gara’s classes again.