Rosa Felibert, BC Law ’24, was 12 years old when she learned she was undocumented.
“It just really felt almost like a trap when I did find out,” Felibert said. “From the time I was 4 until I was 12, I knew I was born somewhere else, but I thought I was just an American like everybody else.”
Felibert immigrated to the United States from Venezuela with her mother when she was four. Their struggles as undocumented immigrants paving new lives in a new country inspired Felibert to pursue a career in service.
Since August, she has been bringing this goal to fruition by working as a staff attorney at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), a nonprofit legal services organization focused on advancing the rights of immigrants in Washington state.
Growing up in Miami, Fla., Felibert’s mother, a former professor in Venezuela, emphasized how essential education was to everyday life. Through education, she argued, their family could propel themselves out of poverty.
“She really believed that education is the greatest equalizer,” Felibert said. “And she always told me, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter what is going on … we have to set that aside and we need to get an education, because that is what’s going to get you out there.’”
Felibert heeded her mother’s advice, and after obtaining U.S. citizenship at 18 years old, she attended the University of Florida. There, she studied anthropology with hopes of becoming a forensic anthropologist. But during her senior year, these aspirations shifted.
She had been working on an undergraduate honors thesis concerning a primate species for a year and a half, and the time had finally come to present her work at a conference. But after giving her presentation, Felibert felt unfulfilled.
“I decided I want to help people,” Felibert said. “I want to make a difference. It sounds cheesy, but make a difference, not really in the world, but in somebody’s life. And doing anthropology wasn’t really getting me there.”
Despite the “terrifying” prospect of changing career trajectories during the spring of her senior year, Felibert set her eyes on a new goal—law.
After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2017, she rotated through jobs as a movie theater manager, a live theater manager, and an undergraduate admissions representative for Brandeis University and the University of Florida, all while applying for law school.
During the application process, Felibert drew from her personal experiences to determine what kind of legal pathway she wanted to pursue.
“I didn’t want to be the stereotypical Latina student who goes for immigration law,” Felibert said. “That’s what people expect of me, and I don’t want that. But I didn’t really find anything that I was as passionate about as immigration law. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m here. I’m the cliche.’”
Felibert cited Boston College Law School’s immigration law program as a factor in her decision to study there, referencing “phenomenal” professors such as Daniel Kanstroom, faculty director of the Rappaport Center for Law & Public Policy, and Mary Holper, clinical professor and director of the Immigration Clinic.
“I wanted something that was focused on social justice,” Felibert said. “I didn’t want to go to law school to represent some corporation. I wanted to represent real people. So BC always had that social justice connection.”
Felibert began her studies at BC Law in 2021. Her passion for immigration law and approaching issues with compassion was immediately evident, according to Dee Lyn, BC Law ’24 and close friend of Felibert.
Lyn can still remember a moment during an immigration law class their first year when the professor asked students to design their perfect immigration system and Felibert distinguished herself with the answer she gave.
“I would say half the class, maybe three-fourths of the class, wanted [to design] a merit-based system,” Lyn said. “But [Felibert] was very adamant that the focus should be on families, to the point where even some of us who were more towards the merit-based side were swayed by her arguments on why families should be prioritized.”
Throughout her time at BC Law, Felibert had a slew of internships in the field of immigration law, both in direct representation—handling the cases of non-citizens in court and before immigration agencies—as well as impact litigation, which focuses more on the changing of law and policies.
In a short period of time, Felibert worked at the Immigration Clinic at BC Law, the NWIRP, Kids in Need of Defense, the Innovation Law Lab, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Boston Immigration Court. Felibert said the ACLU internship particularly influenced her post–law school ambitions.
“It felt much like the anthropology route,” Felibert said. “It felt detached from people.”
Felibert realized that she wanted a career that let her work with others. In 2023, she applied to a position at NWIRP, the organization she had interned with after her first year of law school.
Because of the unpredictable needs of nonprofits working for public interest, Felibert was unsure if she would hear back from the organization.
“But I applied anyway,” Felibert said. “And they were like, ‘We’re willing to make an offer a year in advance.’”
Felibert graduated from BC Law this past spring and began working at NWIRP’s office in Granger, Washington in August. Laura Contreras, directing attorney at the organization’s Granger branch, emphasized Felibert’s consistent passion as one of the qualities that makes her stand out.
“She’s just brought the fresh air and has excellent questions, is always willing to jump in and help, and I could really see the passion and commitment she has for our clients and our organization,” Contreras said. “I’m just very, very pleased that we found Rosa as an intern, and that we continued working with her, and that she decided to join us.”
Lyn admitted that working in immigration law can be difficult, but both she and Contreras said they believe Felibert possesses the skills and characteristics integral to success.
“These stories [that she works with] are difficult,” Lyn said. “And you need somebody that can really kind of work their magic in that way. And she has that magic.”
As a staff attorney at NWIRP, Felibert works to carry out the organization’s mission of supporting the needs of immigrants through impact litigation, direct representation, and community education. But despite her new responsibilities and powers, one of the most meaningful experiences she has had at the organization was working with a Venezuelan family during her internship, she said.
They had immigrated to the United States due to the political climate back home—the same reason Felibert and her mother left Venezuela. That interaction, Felibert said, made her feel like she was “in the right place.”
Moving forward, Felibert hopes to continue supporting immigrants through her work in the legal field and will continue to draw from her own experiences as a source of strength and motivation.
“When I was growing up, had I had a resource like the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, I feel like maybe things would have been a little different,” Felibert said.
