Daissy Dominguez (Class of 2010, Political Science major) of the Dominguez Legal Justice Center has been an amazing mentor to several of our Latina/Latino Studies majors over the years, providing students with hands-on experience working on immigration legal cases. Most recently, Latina/o Studies majors Mariana Barrajas and Rocio Salazar have interned with Daissy. The interns have worked on cases ranging from family petitions, victims of crime petitions, asylum cases, and deportation defense cases. Interns have shadowed Daissy in Immigration Court and at the Daley Center Courthouse. Interns have worked directly with clients to draft client statements and prepare immigration forms. Interns assist Daissy with research and drafting documents for the cases. These experiences working at Daissy’s center have been invaluable to the students as they explore their career interests working with immigrants and the law. Some have pursued a law career after graduating, and others have chosen other career paths that were very much motivated by what they learned in their internship with Daissy.

Daissy’s journey to immigration law was well planned. Daissy enrolled at The John Marshall Law School upon graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign because she has always known from a young age that she wanted to become an attorney. During her Junior and Senior year of college, Daissy began gathering the tools and resources necessary to apply for law school to be able to begin law school after graduation. Since high school and throughout college, Daissy was involved in debate, mock trial competition, and attending programs geared towards students who were interested in the legal profession.

Daissy is a driven attorney and social entrepreneur who utilizes her legal knowledge, creativity, and activism to develop initiatives that help instill positive change. Pursuing a legal career dedicated to social justice, she founded Dominguez Legal Justice Center, LLC (DLJC) in November 2013 after graduating from The John Marshall Law School. Daissy started DLJC through a legal incubator program called Justice Entrepreneurs Project (JEP) that provided her with the tools and guidance to develop a firm that was founded under the mission to build a socially conscious law practice that offers accessible legal services to low and moderate-income people. Having the opportunity to start her own practice has allowed Daissy to have the autonomy to shape her firm in different ways to provide holistic support to her clients and create initiatives that help to empower our communities. DLJC educates their clients about the legal process every step of the way, provides holistic representation by connecting clients with free counseling services and resources to assist them with their non-legal issues that are affecting their life and families. DLJC collaborates with community organizations to provide educational legal workshops that educate residents about their legal rights hosts legal consultations at the centers because knowledge is power. DLJC also believes in empowering immigrant advocates and allies by conducting staff and professional trainings for professionals who support immigrant communities.

Daissy served as an adjunct law professor at The John Marshall Law School. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the University of Illinois Latina Latino Alumni Association and Associate Board of Just The Beginning. Ms. Dominguez is the Founder of the former John Marshall Law School Academic Enhancement Program, an academic retention program geared towards increasing the academic retention rates of first-year minority law students.

 Daissy looks forward to mentoring more students in the years ahead. We are very thankful that Daissy has opened her arms to our students and helped them gain skills, discover ways that they can help immigrants, and explore their possible future.