“I lead with compassion and a desire to help others find their gifts and give them an avenue in which to display those gifts to the world.”
You enter a large hall with magnificent frescos covering the walls from floor to ceiling. The finest layer of multicolored marble dances beneath your feet, and delicate statues command all corners of the room. The invitation to come to this place comes as a result of the inspiring work you do, work that you are passionate about, but at times can draw intense controversy. Just when the opportunity arises for reservations, all doubts that this is your life’s purpose are suddenly eased. Pope Francis has stated his support for your work, calling on you to continue your efforts as an advocate for human rights.
To receive acknowledgement from a world leader like Pope Francis is no small gesture, one that Michele Pistone does not take lightly. As a lawyer and professor, Michele has dedicated her life to protecting immigration, refugee, and asylum rights. Because of her efforts, Michele attended the Refugee and Migrant Education Network Conference in Rome, Italy, where she and seventy other individuals were met with an audience from Pope Francis. During this conference, Pope Francis praised the strong dedication of the attendees and their work, calling them to continue their research, teaching, and service towards the beneficiary of migrant and refugee rights and protection.
“It was life changing”, said Michele when discussing the conference. “I feel even more that the work that I’m doing is really my calling and my purpose. To know that this work is something that is endorsed and supported by Pope Francis is really empowering. It makes you shift focus from something that impacts you, to something that impacts the world.”
A professor of law at Villanova, former director of the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services (CARES), and the founder and current director of Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates (VIISTA), Michele’s work has always been about how she can impact others.
For the past twenty-five years, Michele has worked within Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law as an advocate for immigration and refugee rights, teaching law students to represent asylum seekers in immigration courts and before US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Before becoming an advocate herself, Michele embarked on a different path, one that would eventually lead her to discover her passion for immigration and refugee rights.
Michele began her legal career as a corporate lawyer in New York City, representing elite corporate clients. Though she earned reputable experience from top lawyers in the field, Michele felt unsatisfied due to the lack of direct contact with her clients. To feed this desire, she found herself engaging in pro-bono asylum cases outside of her corporate work. These cases allowed for a deep connection with her clients while providing them directly with the help they needed. She realized this was no longer something she did on the side, but a calling to her life’s work. After 8 years in corporate law, Michele transitioned to working solely for immigration and refugee rights, serving as the legal director for Human Rights First (formerly called the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights), and leading a successful coalition of immigrant serving organizations from around the country on Capitol Hill. Before she knew it, Michele was called to another career path. This time, she was no longer the one learning from teachers and other lawyers but was the one teaching herself.
After two years teaching at Georgetown Law, Michele moved to Villanova, where she has taught ever since. Troubled by the lack of legal representation that immigrants receive, Michele was determined to provide more opportunities for students to give legal aid to immigrants. Combining her passions for advocacy and teaching, Michele started the first immigration clinical program at Villanova, and the first to be introduced at a university in Pennsylvania. Through the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services (CARES), Michele mentored Villanova law students through hands on experience in representing clients in Immigration Court proceedings and interviews with Asylum officers. For Michele, this is a key moment in her students’ careers because they are granted the opportunity to utilize the material learned in the classroom and apply it to real world cases. More importantly, her students recognize the direct impact their work truly has on their clients’ lives and grow more confident in their abilities.
“Students are starting to see themselves not only focusing on grades and their performance in school but actually how their performance is impacting someone else. They are transitioning to be in service to others…it’s such a great opportunity to be there in that moment because you see it in the students. They feel a certain level of empowerment, and commitment, and compassion for their clients…It drives students to be their best selves.”
The opportunity to watch her students excel and develop confidence in their abilities to serve others is one of the most rewarding aspects of Michele’s work. Though her work through the CARES clinic has proved beneficial to many past and present students, Michele sought out a way to expand this type of practice to a greater audience.
Michele was transparent when discussing the obstacles that many passionate individuals who want to facilitate change often face when it comes to practicing law. “The Cadillac is like going to law school. Not everyone needs to drive a Cadillac”, said Michele when discussing the traditional law training practices of the past.
Michele wanted to create a path for individuals to earn the proper certificates to practice law and provide legal representation to clients without going to law school. Enter “Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates,” or more commonly referred to as VIISTA. The VIISTA program is the first legal training program of its kind to be offered at a university in the United States, modeled after the career paths within the healthcare industry. “I was actually inspired by the evolution of the career paths for nurse practitioners and PAs in the health care industries.” Michele notes, “I wanted to model something after this career evolution path and apply it throughout law.”
Since its initial conception, VIISTA has trained over one hundred students a year in immigration and refugee law practices. As Michele discussed the impact of VIISTA, she mentioned at the core of its creation lies the fact that so many people who want to be able to be a part of the solution but didn’t have an avenue. VIISTA provides this avenue.
Today, Michele expresses that there is still much work to accomplish to ensure refugee, migrant, and asylum rights are protected. One of the greatest challenges that advocates like Michele face is the negative rhetoric around immigration and migrant rights.
“The biggest challenge but also opportunity is to help people understand immigration and why people migrate. To help people to be more compassionate for immigrants and see the humanity in immigrants. Most importantly, to see them as people. They’re doing what’s natural. People don’t want to leave their homes but sometimes are forced to due to circumstances that are out of their control…it’s important for people to be open to seeing things from different perspectives.”
The most rewarding aspect of Michele’s work though is the opportunity to watch her students excel. As an educator, watching her students gain the confidence and the skills to be leaders in advocating for immigrant and refugee rights is the greatest gift. To see them utilize these skills after their studies are complete and truly institute change within the world is the driving force behind Michele’s life purpose.
“This is the kind of work I would do if I won the lottery”, says Michele, but some would say she already did.
Images courtesy of Michele Pistone.
Captured March 2024