Scholar Entries - Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois

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Are you a past recipient of an Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund award?

Name

Gabriela Treviño

Current Mailing Address

1340 W. 19th St
1M
Chicago, IL 60608
United States
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Permanent Address (only if different from Current Mailing Address)

2303 W Ash St
Rogers, AR 72758
United States
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Phone

(479) 270-8907

Connection to Illinois

I moved to Illinois for law school, and I intend to practice in Chicago. I am licensed in this state

In what city do you intend to practice law upon graduation?

Chicago

Name of Law School

Chicago-Kent College of Law

Class year

3rd year law student

Full Time or Part Time Student?

Full Time

Date you began attending THIS law school

08/15/2023

Anticipated Graduation Date

05/18/2026

Current GPA

3.37

Law School Class Rank (if known)

92/202

Law School Honors, Awards or Special Recognitions

Honors Scholars Program - full tuition scholarship
Dean's List
Dean's Distinguished Service Award for completing 250+ hours of Pro Bono work
Hispanic National Bar Association LGBTQ+ Legacy Scholarship Recipient

Name of Undergraduate Institution

University of Arkansas

Degree (BA, BSE, etc.) and Concentration/Major

BA, Creative Writing and Latin American Studies

Undergraduate Graduation Date

07/31/2020

GPA

3.71

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

Presidential Scholars List, Dean's List

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Public Interest Center at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Peggy Browning Fund (fellowship at the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project), and the Shoenberger Public Interest Foundation

What was your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) estimated income from all sources for the 2025 Tax Year?

20,000

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

I do not have a post-graduation job yet.

Please estimate your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) income from all sources for the 2026 Tax year

50,000

Please estimate your parent's average annual household income over the last five years

$40,245

Do your parents own or rent their home? Please describe, if necessary

My parents own, but they are paying off their mortgage.

Describe your parents' health insurance situation. Do they have employer-sponsored health insurance, health insurance through the exchange, or no health insurance?

My dad has medicaid and my mom has insurance through the marketplace exchange.

LIST below your total EXPENSES for attending law school for ONE YEAR (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Total Tuition Cost $

48,887

Books Cost $

1,216

Fees Cost $

1,117

Housing Cost $

17,440

Food Cost $

7,200

Other Costs $ (describe)

3,000 (personal expenses)

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

78,860

LIST below your total FUNDING sources you plan to use to pay for these expenses (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Student Loans $

18,045

Scholarships and Grants $

48,887

Work Study, if any $

4,928

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

N/A

Family Contribution $ (include parents, spouse, partner, etc.)

N/A

Other Sources $ (describe)

$7,000 scholarship

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

78,860

For 2Ls and 3Ls, what is your current TOTAL loan debt from the previous law school years?

85,000

Please list any community service activities with which you have been involved in the last ten years, paying particular attention to activities in support of the Hispanic community. For each activity, please include the dates of your participation, a short description of the organization and the community they serve, and a description of the activity you performed to help them. (Please read FAQs before completing)

- Equipo de defensa al inmigrante, Springdale, Arkansas, September 2019 – October 2022, serving the mostly Latine immigrant community in Northwest Arkansas, organized and advocated for the end of 287(g) agreement between local law enforcement and ICE; fundraised for local detained community members; co-organized a benefit concert that raised over $500 for local community member's legal fees; and volunteered at a DACA clinic to help Latine community members fill out their DACA renewal applications.
- Rogers High School, Rogers, Arkansas, January 2019, delivered a presentation to mostly Latine high school students about post-graduation careers to pursue.
- Arkansas Immigrant Defense, Springdale, Arkansas, March 2020, serving mostly Latine immigrant community in Northwest Arkansas, delivered food donations to Latine immigrant families during the pandemic.
- The People's Free Store, Springdale, Arkansas, January 2021 – July 2023, serving unhoused/low-income neighbors, a significant portion of which are Latine, oversaw the planning and operations of the free store that aims to provide community members with clothing, hygiene, and household items for free; created multi-language flyers and distributed them within the community; coordinated donation drop-offs; connected attendees to other vital resources.
- Pilsen Food Pantry, September 2023 – Present, serving low-income immigrant communities, including Latine communities, package food for mostly Latine and Asian clients, organize clothing donations for the pantry's free clothing store.
- Children’s Legal Center, October 2023 – December 2024, immigration legal aid for immigrant children and their families, help mostly Spanish speaking, Latine clients apply for asylum and work permits.
- Self-Help Resource Desk, January 2024 – December 2024, organization at Chicago-Kent serving pro-se litigants, help pro-se litigants fill out motions for court appearances at the Circuit Court of Cook County.
- LadderUp, February 2024 – April 2024, serving low-income Illinoisans to file their taxes, helped majority Latine community members fill out their income taxes.
- Legal Aid Chicago, Austin Clinic, August 2024 – December 2024, legal aid serving low-income/low-resourced Chicagoans, conducted intakes with community members on a wide range of civil legal issues, which sometimes included immigration issues for Spanish speaking, Latine clients.
- The Resurrection Project, August 2024, organization serving the Latine immigrant community with housing and immigration issues, helped community members fill out TPS and employment authorization renewals.
- Transformative Justice Law Project, September 2024 – Present, serving transgender and gender non-conforming Illinoians, help transgender and gender non-conforming Illinoisans fill out name change petitions.
- Ascend Justice, January 2025 and January 2026, serving clients seeking an emergency order of protection, participated in the Winter Immersion Program, helping Spanish-speaking Latine immigrants file for emergency orders of protection.
- New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, May 2025 – May 2025, immigration legal aid for low-income immigrants, served as the student leader on week-long trip to help detained, pro-se immigrants with their applications for relief.

Please provide a statement describing your background and focus your statement on your reasons for pursuing a legal career and your legal career goals. This statement is important. Please give it appropriate attention. (min. 1000 characters) (Please read FAQs before completing)

My roots are firmly planted in the banks of the Rio Grande in South Texas, but several work opportunities for my parents took my family and me to Georgia and Arkansas. This was a recurring theme for many families in the 1990s; the promise of opportunity and security prompted a massive migration of Latines to factory jobs all over the U.S. South, many of which were in the poultry industry. As a child of immigrants, I have a unique responsibility as a translator and cultural navigator for my parents. This duty began from the moment I stepped foot into my kindergarten classroom. I remember getting puzzled looks from the adults at the bank when I translated for my mom or when they saw me make myself a cup of coffee at 10 years old. I was confused by their confusion, as it was normal for us children of immigrants to serve that role in our families. Our small Arkansas town was not ready to welcome Latine, non-English speaking families, and that was made abundantly clear to me growing up. I became well acquainted with racist, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant rhetoric that left my small, young self advocating for our right to exist and be happy to a room full of people that did not care to empathize. I learned advocacy as a method of survival and now wear it like a badge of honor.
Because of these difficult experiences growing up, I struggled to find my footing. All I knew was survival. It wasn’t until I reached college that I started to understand that I was no longer in a place where simply surviving would suffice. Thankfully, I met a group of people that held the same beliefs and experiences I did. They knew what it was like to have to justify your existence and convince people that you belong. We started a grassroots group called Equipo de Defensa al Inmigrante—Immigrant Defense Group. Our goal was to put a stop to a racist policy that allowed the local sheriff’s office to act on behalf of ICE. We wrote press releases, garnered massive support at the annual 287(g) policy meeting at the courthouse, blocked an ICE bus from taking a community member to a detention center in Louisiana, and even demonstrated at a City Hall meeting. I remember the icy February wind blistering my face as we marched toward City Hall to demand the release of a friend with an ICE detainer. I wanted nothing more than to run to my warm apartment, hide under the covers, and never face the world again. I learned to be a people pleaser as a way to keep myself safe, and it was nauseating to think I would partake in an action so confrontational and potentially dangerous. I almost went home, but instead, my shaky knees slowly carried me into the room, and though my singular voice felt inconsequential, the voices of nearly a dozen of us commanded the space and left city and county officials speechless. It was through this experience that I came to understand that advocacy is an essential part of who I am. This notion has served as a powerful reminder through seasons of my life where the imposter syndrome has been louder than the cheers and support from my family, and where the self-doubt overshadowed the self-belief.
I started law school on shaky footing – after all, everything about the law school environment was completely new for me. However, over the years, my foundation has become more solid. I have learned how to be a better advocate for my community. In May of 2025, the Immigration Law Society at Chicago-Kent took a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to help detained adults prepare their pro se packets before the immigration court. I was the student leader chosen to go on the trip. During the week we were there, our group of students visited two detention facilities to do know your rights presentations and help individual clients write their affidavits in support of their applications for relief. I used the skills I had developed in my classes to research country conditions and write a compelling narrative that properly captured the gravity of our client’s situation for him to present to the immigration judge. Bearing witness to the conditions that our clients were subject to drove me to do my best to advocate for them, and it served as an important reminder: we are only as free as the most oppressed of us, and we must do our part to ensure that those pushed to the margins have meaningful access to justice.
Though this was undoubtedly an emotional, difficult trip, I learned that I had the capacity to be a fierce, passionate, and unrelenting advocate for people pushed to the margins. With my law degree, I will be able to help members of my community understand their rights regardless of their status. I will also help educate my community so that they can recognize situations where they are being taken advantage of and self-advocate. I hope to help change the landscape in terms of working conditions and access to equity in all aspects of life, regardless of someone’s status or language. I am infinitely proud to be a daughter of immigrants because my experiences have shaped me into the relentless, albeit intense, advocate I am today.

Please upload a copy of your financial award letter labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.FinAwardLtr*

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Trevino.Gabriela.FinAwardLtr.pdf

Please upload a copy of your resume labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.Resume*

Please upload a copy of your law school transcript labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.LSTranscript*