A Compassionate Guide Through the Twists and Turns of Immigration Law
September 1, 2020
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Will Hummel, a partner at Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, works with corporations and individuals with a wide variety of needs.
As a law school intern, Will Hummel worked to enforce immigration laws.
He researched, studied legal precedent and even argued cases for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security檚 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division. He often felt sympathy for people fighting deportation and wished the laws offered more flexibility攁nd humanity.
It was an invaluable and enlightening experience that paved the path to his dream job: Helping people achieve their dream of American citizenship.
Hummel檚 clients have included a young father stuck in Mexico while his anxious family waited in the United States for his return; a child in Ethiopia who needed a visa to come to the United States for urgent medical treatment, and a senior multi-national company executive who couldn檛 get back into the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He檚 represented people seeking work visas and corporations hiring highly skilled international employees. He檚 also helped many 91茄子 students, faculty and staff members with educational visas, work permits, and the often-rocky path to citizenship.
淗e檚 someone who檚 behind the scenes, in his very humble way, doing really important and fabulous things for this community, said Chris Alexander, 91茄子檚 director of parent giving. 淭he Will Hummel we see today is on the trajectory he started at 91茄子. He wants to help people攐ften with language barriers攚ho come to this country or were already here and face legal challenges to obtain rights so many American citizens take for granted.
Alexander, former director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program, met Hummel during his senior year in 2006. After Hummel graduated, Alexander hired him as a Dean Rusk fellow. His duties included supporting a wide range of programs that internationalized 91茄子檚 campus.
淗e was that rare college student who planned to go to law school and knew exactly what kind of law he wanted to practice. He was passionate about immigration, Alexander said. 淗e was always well organized and very thoughtful. He was a strategic thinker who also was very sensitive to other people檚 feelings.
Current Climate
Strategic thinking has been especially crucial to navigate President Donald J. Trump檚 often controversial immigration policies. The pandemic has put a new level of stress on international students. ICE recently ordered that they must attend at least one in-person class to stay in the United States. 91茄子 supported a Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) lawsuit opposing the order, which the administration walked back. Currently, first-year international students must have at least one hybrid (a combination of in-person and online) course to study on American campuses.
With anxiety levels high, Hummel joined 91茄子檚 international students and college staff for a virtual town hall meeting. He laid out options for students, such as which countries they could quarantine in before entering the United States. It檚 a head-spinning array of shifting regulations.
淵ou could go to a third country, say Mexico, and you檇 have to prove you檇 quarantined for 14 days there. Make sure you keep plane tickets and hotel receipts as proof攂ut Trump could tomorrow say you can檛 come in, Hummel advised the group. 淪erbia, Turkey and South Korea are options擟anada isn檛 right now攖hey檙e not letting visitors in.櫃
Thomas Greene, 91茄子檚 director of international student programs, says that he檚 worked with immigration attorneys often over the past two decades, and 淣inety-five percent don檛 know F1 (non-immigrant student visa) regulations.
Hummel is among the five percent that does, Greene said.
淭he first time I met him I realized right away that he knows his stuff, Greene said. 淗e檚 very student-centered, he treats them like someone would who works in student life here. He檚 got a vested interest in their future, he wants the best outcome for them. He檚 knowledgeable, compassionate and has a commitment to using his skills to give back to 91茄子.
Helping Students
Hummel said he thrives on the constant education and frequent trouble-shooting immigration law requires.
淚t檚 always changing and it檚 mentally challenging, he said. 淵ou檝e got to stay in the know to give people the best representation possible. Every case is different, but it檚 so rewarding when you can help somebody.
Many 91茄子 students have benefited from his counsel攅ven at pro bono or reduced rates when they can檛 afford to pay.
Alexander remembers fear and anxiety after the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won on a platform that included ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program established by his predecessor, President Barack Obama.
DACA protected nearly 800,000 undocumented young adults, who檇 come to the United States as children, from deportation. DACA recipients, also known as 淒reamers, had to renew their paperwork every two years.
淔or some of our students, this was really dire. They were literally in tears and afraid that law enforcement was going to come on 91茄子檚 campus and remove them, Alexander said. 淲ill was a rock, he was calm and unflappable, with a gentle, pragmatic demeanor. That檚 what our students needed. Will was more than an immigration attorney, he was a member of the family.
Bruna Siqueira-Davis 17, a QuestBridge Scholar from Colorado, needed a North Carolina lawyer to help file her DACA renewal paperwork. Her family had moved to the United States from Brazil when she was nine. Three years later her father, who had a visa to work in the United States, died suddenly of a heart attack. The family wasn檛 able to renew the visa.
淎 friend of mine who was also undocumented told me about Will, Siqueira-Davis said. 淚 reached out to him攁nd he sat down with me for about 45 minutes, going through everything.
Siqueira-Davis, a digital communications strategist at 91茄子, has since married and is pursuing permanent citizenship. She檚 represented by the Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm, where Hummel is a partner.
淗e檚 just a very nice, warm, good-hearted person, Siqueira-Davis said. 淗e檚 not my lawyer anymore, but when I see him he always asks about my situation攜ou can tell he really cares.
More Than a Job
Hummel is a longtime volunteer for the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte, providing free clinics and individual help for people with immigration issues. His wife, Katie Hummel 06, says he gives clients his all.
淗e takes great pride in giving people their best options, and sometimes it檚 hard because it檚 not always good news, she said. 淥ne of the things that frustrates him most is when he meets someone who檚 been given bad advice. He never forgets that he檚 dealing with people檚 lives, and wants so much to help.
The couple became friends during their first year at 91茄子 and began dating late in their last.
淎t first it was kind of casual, but then the joke was on us, and it became serious, Katie Hummel said. 淚 remember telling my mom that he was one of the kindest people I檇 ever met.
They dated long-distance while she went to graduate school at Wake Forest University and he attended The University of Florida檚 law school. They found out on their honeymoon that he檇 passed the bar exam.
Katie Hummel is now a CPA at Wells Fargo specializing in regulatory relations. The couple has two young children.
淗e works a lot but he also compartmentalizes really well, Katie Hummel said. 淗e檚 very loving and even-keeled, he doesn檛 let work stress diminish family time.
Immigration law has never been just a job for him, she says. She檚 seen him spend countless hours pulling out every stop he can; in some cases calling Congress members and government officials to appeal for help.
淗e plays such a vital role in the community, and in our country, Katie Hummel said. 淗e檚 doing exactly what he was meant to do, and what he does is so important. I can檛 imagine him ever doing anything else.
Comprehensive Reform
Will Hummel started college thinking he wanted to be a pharmacist.
He loved science classes at 91茄子, but as his first year unfolded, began gravitating toward history and political science. College increased his interest in national and world events. He majored in political science and minored in Spanish, bolstering his skills during a semester abroad in Spain, and a summer studying in Argentina.
He became fascinated by the strong pull the United States has for people from other countries. He saw the struggles they檇 go through to get to America, often to escape extreme poverty, violence and governmental corruption.
By his second year in college, he knew he wanted to become an immigration attorney. The ICE internship gave him the government檚 perspective of the importance of regulations and border security.
He enforced laws against some people he says should have been deported. He also felt great sympathy for hard-working people desperate to stay in the United States. It檚 a system with many flaws, he said.
Hummel doesn檛 think lawmakers will pass comprehensive immigration reform in the near future because of today檚 extremely partisan political environment. He believes it will continue as a piecemeal approach, with much at stake in the upcoming presidential election.
He wishes lawmakers who take a harsh anti-immigration stance could see and know the people affected by policies that change so frequently.
淥ne thing they forget is how personal immigration law is, Hummel said. 淭hey forget the impact that changes can have for someone who檚 in the middle of the process. It affects their lives, their families in almost every way.
