by Cory Johnson, Communications Intern ’25-26 (he/him) Boise, ID ’23-24 & Anchorage, AK ’24-25
It’s a typical weekday morning at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP). Brynn Kramer arrived at the office in downtown Seattle, caught up on messages, checked in with colleagues, and prepared for an intake later in the day. In that meeting, she’ll spend a few hours listening to a woman’s story of repeated survival. It’s the next step in what Brynn has learned will be a complicated legal journey towards their settling in the U.S.
“People have to suffer in the right way to even be considered by the courts. There’s a lot of boxes to check and only a select few actually get assistance,” Brynn said.
She serves as a Jesuit Volunteer in the NWIRP unit handling cases under the Violence Against Women Act. Regardless of whether Brynn and NWIRP will be able to legally represent this client, she hopes these initial meetings create a space where survivors feel understood and cared for and can leave with hope.
As a senior at Santa Clara University, she was searching for ways to help support immigrants–people like her mother, who came to the U.S. from the Philippines as a teen. That’s where she found NWIRP and applied to be a Jesuit Volunteer. Just a few months later, she has her own case load and has drafted dozens of legal documents, but she doesn’t see that as the main part of her service.
“Being a compassionate human first and getting the legal side of it done second is really important to me,” Brynn said. “That could’ve been someone in my family. The only difference was a little bit of luck.”
Come lunch time, Brynn will debrief lessons learned–in between sharing baked goods and planning holiday gatherings–with her colleagues. They include five other JVs serving in Seattle and Tacoma.
The culture at NWIRP has pushed the JVs to practice the act of balancing the triumphs and heartbreak of all their roles–as legal advocates, housemates, humans–because it is all important, belongs, and should be counted as joy.
Office-wide email chains share updates of major U.S. immigration policy changes more frequently than ever. It almost rivals the number of wins shared each day, no subject line too small: from “we won this federal court case against the White House” to “I finally finished this hike”.
“Their stories are sacred and it should be the role of us and the justice system to honor that”
That kind of grounding has been what allows Xitlali Garcia to continue to show up as her best self for clients seeking asylum. She’s also the proud daughter and granddaughter of immigrants and spent time on the Mexico border in immersion trips with Loyola Marymount University. She’s seen the complexities through her service and identities that most public narratives on immigration don’t capture. Still, her mission as a JV is pretty simple: to honor the humanity and dignity in every person and encounter.
“It’s important for me to be present and compassionate. There’s people behind these headlines and numbers. It’s their power and their voice and I’m so grateful they trust me with that. Their stories are sacred and it should be the role of us and the justice system to honor that,” she said.
Every day brings new issues to triage but it’s done together in a space held holy, with pro bono attorneys and supporters from across the country that keep rising to help meet the need.
“Only God knows why the roles aren’t reversed for any of us,” Xitlali said. “It’s easier to breathe while knowing there’s people out there fighting the good fight.”
Across the Northwest, JVs and JV EnCorps members continue to both accompany immigrants in their daily service and gather to publicly bear witness to the holy acts of welcoming and reject dehumanizing systems of oppression. JVs were recently featured in an article from Tacoma Weekly during a prayer pilgrimage to the ICE detention center.
On this Feast Day of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants and the namesake of our newest JV community in Seattle, we uplift the concern for immigrants shared in a special message from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and offer this prayer authored by the Order of Saint Benedict:
Ever-faithful God, you gave St. Frances a missionary spirit and called her to support Italian immigrants to the United States. In company with her we pray: Fulfill our hope, O God.
Relieve the anguish of immigrants, refugees and migrants who seek a safe home.
Support and protect all missionaries called by the Church to be in solidarity with those whom they serve.
Uphold and inspire women who forge new ways to live the Gospel.
Thank you, Corey, and it was very, very good meeting you yesterday, Thanksgiving in Tacoma.