Name: Emilio A Cabrera
Nationality: USA / Mexico
Graduation Year: 2019 (Cohort 7)
Mobility Path: University of Oldenburg; University of Stavanger; Slovenian Migration Center Ljubljana, Slovenia
Current Job: Federal Intakes Specialist, US Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services
Emilio's story:
Beyond academia and theoretical discussions on epistemologies of human migration and exciting research methodology, EMMIR provides you with the ability to submerge yourself deeply firsthand into the experiences lived by refugees, displaced migrants, international organization colleagues, aiming to assist through law regulations, labor assistance, and just basic human rights, and the lives of many other key players around the globe… here you will find a network of future diplomats, international key players of research, social advancement and transnational human progress. EMMIR cannot be described in someone’s bio, you have to live it and make it your own experience.
Aside from the opportunity to live in 4 different countries in a mere 2 years, -through academic semesters and my practical internship with the United Nations in Central America, the vast network acquired through this program, in academic institutions across the globe, and practical organizations worldwide,- the vast knowledge and experiences lived is what made EMMIR an once in a lifetime opportunity that I would take again, given the chance to do it.
I currently work with the US Office of Refugee and Resettlement in Washington D.C. trying to make the lives of those fleeing insecurity and instability get a chance for a better chapter in their stories.
Before joining ORR, I spent 5 years with BCFS Health and Human Services under their Emergency Management Responses across the U.S, from California Wildfires in Paradise/Chico to all Unaccompanied Minors Influx surges since 2016. Most recently I spent almost a year at an Influx Shelter as Case Management Division Supervisor.
In addition to the direct experience in the field with unaccompanied minors, I had the opportunity to do research onsite in 2018 with a local German organization in Oldenburg, serving the Afghan refugees and migrant community seeking asylum in the EU. During my last semester, my thesis followed the experience of the mothers of migrants who have gone missing along the journey from the northern triangle of Central America to the US: the stories whose voices are often less told.
Today, I’m grateful for the network and experiences lived through EMMIR, but remain more eager to see how our lives cross paths once more in the near future.
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