Maryam Samimi

Ms. Samimi is entering her last year at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco this fall.

Growing up in a low-income immigrant community, Ms. Samimi has been drawn to projects that help refugees and asylum seekers. As a college student, Ms. Samimi began the first refugee program at her mosque where she worked directly with refugee women to help them with their displacement by connecting them with government resources and community assistance. Also during this time, Ms. Sami- mi volunteered for the Northern California ACLU to help with elections.

During law school, Ms. Samimi volunteered for an Immigration Project where she visited detention centers in Arizona and Mexico and helped conduct training on the process of applying for asylum. Moreover, Ms. Samimi interned for the The Florence Project, which provides free legal services, social services, and advocacy to immigrants facing detention and potential deportation.

Ms. Samimi intends to continue her work for refugees this summer while also working as an intern for a tax law firm. She hopes to become a civil rights attorney after law school in light of her background and past volunteer experience.