How #NoBanJFK Inspired Kelly Keown to Become an Immigration Lawyer

Kelly Keown is in her last semester of her third and final year of law school at NYLS, but this was not always her dream. It was because of the events in 2017 surrounding the Muslim Ban and the dedicated group of what would eventually be Immigrant ARC members that inspired her to change the trajectory of her career and her life.

Originally from Indiana, Kelly studied business and moved to New York to pursue a job in property tax consulting. While she was in the market to do something else for a while, she wasn’t quite sure what that might be.

However, she soon realized that many of her immigrant friends were frightened by policies set in place in 2017. She became worried about what might happen to them and realized that it was time for her to hit the reset button on her understanding of the immigration system. It became obvious to her that she was naive and had a distorted sense of reality when it came to the severity of these issues. This was especially clear when she had assumed there would be measures in place to stop some of those policies from being enacted, particularly the Muslim Ban.

After seeing the reality of the Muslim Ban and its effects on those close to her, she realized she must take action. Kelly marched at protests through the streets of New York City, but she recalls that after a few protests she still felt helpless and couldn’t imagine how others more affected than she was must have felt. Even after seeing the protests at JFK Airport, she wasn’t sure their voices would be heard loudly enough to change policy.

Eventually, a thought came to her: “There must be people that can actually affect change. Where are those people?” As she watched the news, she saw the cameras moved inside to show immigration attorneys with signs that said they would help free of charge. Her entire understanding of what lawyers did changed, and it was at that moment that she felt the need to be one of the people who could actually help.

Kelly began looking into law school and realized she had found the right career. She stated that she would be proud to wake up and say that she’s an immigration lawyer and that she has the ability to help those in need.

When asked about Immigrant ARC, she was thrilled to offer her praise, stating that it is a one of a kind organization. She particularly emphasized one of Immigrant ARC’s major goals, which is to ensure that upstate New York immigrants and legal service providers have access to the same tools that New York City immigrants and legal service providers have.

Kelly is in the process of looking for a full-time position when she graduates this May, and while she looks forward to the future, she will always have the past to thank and the effort of legal service providers on January 27th, 2017, for her decision to affect positive change and become an immigration lawyer.