Immigrant advocates Sarya Baladi ’25 and Annie Chen ’09 were honored with the Feerick Center for Social Justice’s Defender of the Dream Award at its 10th Annual FriendRaiser on March 6.
The Feerick Center promotes the rights and addresses the problems facing marginalized and low-income New Yorkers and individuals seeking humanitarian relief, including asylum-seeking families and unaccompanied immigrant children. It also links the social justice community serving those in need to Fordham and engages the Fordham community in service of national and local social justice initiatives.
Established in 2022, the Defender of the Dream Award recognizes members of the Fordham Law School community who have distinguished themselves for their work and service in advancing human rights, upholding the rule of law, and transforming systems to advance justice.
Baladi, an articles and notes editor and associate diversity and inclusion editor on the Fordham Law Review, will graduate from Fordham Law this May. Chen, who graduated from Fordham Law in 2009 as a Stein Scholar, is a federal policy advisor to the New York Immigration Coalition.
Raissa Ebeh ’25 presented Baladi’s award, calling her classmate a “visionary” and highlighting Baladi’s dedication and passion for immigration law while at Fordham Law.
“After Sarya published her note, it didn’t just stay on the shelf. It made a real impact,” Ebeh said. “A law school professor at another law school reached out to her, expressing how impressed he was with her work and sharing that he had already started to implement the framework that she proposed. This is the impact of Sarya—someone whose words do not just inspire but drive real change in the law.”
In her acceptance speech, Baladi said she was inspired by the Feerick Center’s record of immigrant advocacy, “The Feerick Center stands on the front lines in the fight for justice, ensuring that immigrants are not only defended but also empowered, and that human dignity is upheld. As I prepare to begin my work as an immigration lawyer, I will carry with me the lessons from the Feerick Center, which have given me the energy and determination to take on this challenge in such a climate.”
Sarya Baladi ’25 and Raissa Ebeh ’25
Jojo Annobil ’90, CEO of Immigrant Justice Corps and co-chair of the Feerick Center’s advisory council, presented the award to Chen. The two first met in 2009 when Chen was an intern in the immigration law unit of the Legal Aid Society. Annobil commended Chen for her work in leading the Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Network at the Vera Institute of Justice, expanding universal representation from two jurisdictions to 55 jurisdictions across the nation in seven years.
“Each one represents countless families kept together, dreams preserved, and lives rebuilt,” said Annobil. “Behind Annie’s strategic brilliance lies something even more powerful—an unwavering compassion that sees humanity in every case file, every courtroom, and every detention center.”
As an immigrant who was recently naturalized as a U.S. citizen, Chen spoke about her path in advocating for the rights of immigrants and her hope that the country remains welcoming, inclusive, and respectful of the rule of law, “Right now children are afraid to go to school, families are afraid to go to hospitals, and we’re facing budget cuts that threaten essential services for everyone. … All of us in the Fordham community who understand and respect the rule of law and, most importantly, who work ‘in the service of others’ have the privilege and obligation to uphold our democratic institutions.”
Annie Chen ’09 and Jojo Annobil ’90
Adama Bah, chief executive officer and founder of Afrikana, served as the evening’s keynote speaker, delivering a powerful and deeply personal speech about the challenges migrants face in New York City. She called on the legal profession to uphold the rights and dignity of all migrants, “As you move forward, never forget the power you hold. Never forget why you chose this path. … You don’t just change laws; you change lives.”
Funds donated through the FriendRaiser event support the Center’s Immigrant Justice Project, which seeks to provide access to justice and improve policy and practice for vulnerable migrants—including families and unaccompanied immigrant children seeking asylum and other humanitarian protections—through limited-scope pro bono opportunities, convenings, educational programs, and other special initiatives.
Over the past decade, the Feerick Center has organized 34 service trips, sending nearly 320 volunteers to the Southern border and Newark, New Jersey, serving over 600 individuals in El Paso, Texas, alone. Said Dean Emeritus John D. Feerick ’61, “Behind every number is a human being whose life has been touched in some way by a volunteer, sometimes in life-changing ways.”
View more scenes from the event:
