MALDEF’S 2025-2026 LAW SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Lewis & Clark Law School

Salvador was raised by his farm-working family across Oregon and Washington state. Determined to shape legislation, Salvador attended the University of Washington-Bothell. Salvador has interned in Congress, and after undergrad, went on to work for Governor Jay Inslee as a Regional Representative. During law school, Salvador clerked a summer for Chief Judge David G. Estudillo in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. As a 3L, Salvador currently serves as President for his school’s American Constitution Society Chapter. When he’s not studying, he enjoys playing soccer with his law school pickup team.

Patricia is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation low-income Chicana of color whose goal is to use her legal education as a tool for intersectional advocacy to honor her mother’s memory. During law school, Patricia interned at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Disability Rights Program, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Latino Justice PRDLF. Currently, Patricia is an eviction defense attorney at Inner City Law Center (ICLC). Patricia is interested in civil rights litigation, economic justice, and liberation movements. Patricia maintains a strong determination to make a mark in the legal community and act in public service to advance justice.

Bill De La Rosa is the son of Mexican immigrants who came to the U.S. in search of opportunity. At 15, his mother was separated from their family and barred from reentering the country for a decade due to her immigration status, inspiring his pursuit of immigration law. He graduated from Bowdoin College as a Truman Scholar and studied at Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar and a Clarendon Scholar before enrolling at Yale Law School. Following graduation, he will return to Arizona as a Skadden Fellow to represent detained immigrants against deportation and help build a universal representation model.

Karla Galiano Herrera is a first-generation student and immigrant from Honduras. Her experience navigating the immigration system sparked her commitment to public interest law, which began in college through advocacy for immigrant students, including helping establish the first Immigrant Student Success Center at her college to support undocumented and mixed-status students. She later worked in immigration advocacy supporting survivors of violence and individuals seeking humanitarian relief. She continues this work through the Asylum Clinic while also exploring legal support for immigrant artists and creatives. Upon graduation, Karla hopes to continue advocating for immigrant communities while expanding access to legal resources.

Marly Marquez is the daughter of Mexican migrant farmworkers from the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Passionate about immigrant worker rights, she interned at Farmworker Justice, where she worked on a case affecting migrant farmworkers from her hometown. She also interned for the United Nations Refugee Agency and served as a student attorney at Michigan Law’s Civil Rights Litigation Initiative, working on a case that challenged the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants. Marly is now a law clerk at the Northern Mariana Islands Superior Court and hopes to return to the South Texas border to serve her community.

Alex Rodriguez is the eldest son of two Mexican immigrants and proudly from South Central Los Angeles. At UC Berkeley, Alex discovered his passion for immigration law through work with the ACLU Northern California and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. At UCLA Law, Alex is a member of the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy and interned with the Center for Immigration Law and Policy. After graduation, he will join Robbins Geller, advocating to hold big corporations account for violating federal securities laws, as well as joining the firm’s robust immigration pro bono practice.

Alondra Vázquez López is the daughter of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants. Motivated by wanting to understand the history of her family’s migration to the U.S. as Mexican farmworkers and Central Americans fleeing civil war, Alondra majored in Ethnicity, Race, & Migration at Yale. She then pursued a Masters in Migration Studies focusing on alternatives to punitive immigration law. Throughout her education Alondra participated in initiatives assisting immigrants with their legal cases. Privy to the lack of access to affordable and trustworthy legal aid, Alondra pursued public interest law. She hopes to work in removal defense for detained immigrants after graduation.

Duke University School of Law

Isaac Velez is the son of a Puerto Rican father and Honduran mother. His upbringing instilled in him a deep commitment to improving conditions for working families. Isaac went on to earn a B.S. and Master of Public Policy from Rutgers University. Prior to law school, Isaac served in U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee office. As a student at Duke Law School, Isaac was a legal fellow at the Laborers' Union Eastern Region, helping to organize low-wage construction workers for improved working conditions. This summer, Isaac will work as a legal fellow at Cohen, Weiss, and Simon, a labor law firm representing unions nationwide.