Maya Tsukazaki, 2022-2024 Poverty Law Fellow

Maya will be working with the Vermont Law School’s Vermont Immigrant Assistance Project, focusing on expanding access to justice for low-income noncitizen Vermonters and providing direct legal services to the Vermont immigrant community.

Maya graduated magna cum laude from American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. During law school, Maya focused on experiences in public service and interned with the Department of Justice Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights, the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, Just Neighbors (immigration services), and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

While in law school, she also served as Senior Column Editor and Managing Editor of the Human Rights Brief; a staff member on the Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law; a member of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP); a Legal Rhetoric Dean’s Fellow; and a research assistant for Professor Anita Sinha and for Dr. Paul R. Williams’ Lawyering Peace program.

During her 3L year, Maya served as a student attorney in the Immigrant Justice Clinic, where she represented clients before USCIS and in immigration court, as well as arguing a client’s case before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Maya will also complete her master’s degree in International Affairs from American University School of International Service in Fall 2022, where she has focused her studies on global human migration and on post-conflict states.

Prior to law school, Maya spent time working and interning with several non-profits in Portland, Oregon while volunteering as a sexual assault advocate with the YWCA. Maya obtained her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, where she also completed a Certificate in International Studies in Business and a minor in South Asian Languages.

Maya is originally from southwest Washington state. She is excited for the opportunity to advocate for and with the growing immigrant community in Vermont while also partnering with existing community groups to expand access to services in the community.