Immigration Justice Week
Feb 2 - 6, 2026
Lawyers, advocates, and a documentary filmmaker joined ENACT for Immigration Justice Week February 2nd to 6th, talking with Brandeis students about their work and sharing their perspectives on current issues in immigration in the United States.
The series kicked off with a Know Your Rights Workshop featuring Massachusetts Law Reform Institute Senior Immigration Attorney Heather Yountz, and Jessica Chicco, Director of Training at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA).
The next event, Stories from the Front: Immigrant Justice and Advocacy Strategies featured Doug Smith from The Right to Immigration Institute (TRII) and Jonathan Paz from Fuerza.
TRII is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal assistance to asylum seekers, refugees, and undocumented members of the Greater Boston community. Fuerza Waltham is a volunteer organization that documents in-progress ICE arrests. The group was founded by Jonathan Paz, a former Waltham city councilor.
Heather Yountz of Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Jessica Chicco of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (l-r)
Immigration Justice Week concluded with a screening of documentary film The Vigil followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Jenny Alexander and Dr. Piñeros-Shields, Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Public Policy Program at the Heller School at Brandeis.
The Vigil follows one woman’s journey from living in fear of immigration policies to becoming a determined leader of a group of faith-driven immigrant women.
“I thought the film screening was really powerful,” a student attendee shared. “I’m really glad that I got the opportunity to hear from the filmmaker about the choices she made about what to include and exclude and I definitely feel motivated to get involved in the ongoing movement.”
Read more about the film here.