“The breadth of my legal knowledge has grown tremendously and I’m excited to go to class every day,” Stukenberg says. “There are professors who specialize in anything you can think of, ready and excited to engage with you.”

She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Colleen V. Chien, competed in an external moot court competition, and led the student-run Berkeley Anti-Trafficking Project (BATPro).

The group created a community guide explaining the impact of AB 1261 — a California bill affecting those eligible for U, S, or T visas — as well as a practitioner guide explaining a new Biden Administration rule barring migrants from asylum if they don’t request refugee status in another country before entering the United States.

BATPro also created a practitioner guide for Office on Trafficking in Persons letters — official documents that an unaccompanied child who experienced human trafficking can receive — which grants eligibility for certain federal benefits and services.

“Depending on who wins the election in November, our immigration system could be altered significantly,” Stukenberg says. “BATPro’s role is to explain these changes to practitioners and community members and ensure that everyone is in the best possible position to get trafficking victims the relief they need and are legally entitled to.”

While immigration remains a polarizing and politicized issue, Stukenberg believes consensus is feasible to protect children who are brought to the U.S. against their will and exploited for sex or labor. She sees law students as vital for addressing the issue, given the immigration system’s complexity and the cost of legal representation.

“Law students are perfect for this because one year ago we knew very little, if anything, about the relevant law. We can take off our law school hats and write about immigration law in a way that non-lawyers can understand,” she says. “But also, as law students, we have the legal knowledge to write how-to manuals for pro bono attorneys — who may not be immigration specialists — to directly support these victims.”

Stukenberg, who worked at the California Office of Legislative Counsel in Sacramento this past summer, plans to pursue a judicial clerkship and then either appellate advocacy or a role in the state legislature.

Whatever the forum, her career goal is to “combat legal systems that perpetuate poverty and create more pathways for everyone to find meaningful employment and a stable, safe, and comfortable place to call home.” — Andrew Cohen