Immigrant Rights

At the Karnes Detention Center its all coloring books and smiley stickers for the kids. And incarceration.

I have worked with Raices Texas helping people in ICE family detention prepare for their Credible Fear interviews – and other procedural hearings – in their asylum process. We often relied on the services of Casa Marianella in Austin to help resettle families after release from detention. After the pandemic closed the centers to visitors, I worked with Freedom for Immigrants, counseling ICE detainees on a hotline. I have worked with Texas Here to Stay to counsel Texans on their immigrant rights and worked as a volunteer translator with Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas. Women on the Border arranges direct assistance resources to people in need and much educational material on the region.

I encourage visitors to my website to learn more about these organizations and to donate generously.

Voting Rights

Voting Rights and Civic Engagment have been a priority for me. I became a VDR (Volunteer Deputy Registrar) in 2014 when we moved back to Texas and received an award for the number of people registered in 2017. I have focused on registering the young, people experiencing homelessness in specific. I have partnered extensively with the Asian Pacific Islander community in presenting a candidates forum and special civic engagement drives. I have participated in Voter Protection with the Texas Civil Rights Project, League of Women Voters, Texas Democratic Party, APAPA (Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs) and the Georgia Spanish Language Voter Protection Hotline to protect the recent runoff.

Interview with Joanna Brooks of the Am erican Beauty Podcast, originally aired on October 28, 2018.

Does worrying about fraud, bots, and Facebook get to the heart of strengthening democracy? Beyond the numbers games, and the winners, and losers, what’s at stake in getting out the vote? Emily Socolov, election protection activist, explains.