Political asylum leads to law school to helping educate immigrants

If it weren't for exposure to the plight of immigrants less fortunate than she, Kathia Pereira might still be focusing on teeth and gums.

By her own account, the former dentist led a privileged life in Lima, Peru.

She sought political asylum in the United States 11 years ago, and worked as a dental assistant before eventually managing several dental practices.

The 34-year-old studied business and tax law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

She planned to help her husband in his wholesale bakery business.

Then she found her calling.

A professor suggested she take an immigration law class. She also earned college credits working at the immigration clinic on campus.

Pereira remembers getting a hug from an immigrant who feared he was going to be deported and separated from his family.

"At that moment, I knew there was a good reason for me to be a lawyer," she said.

She opened a law practice and continues to do much pro bono work, meanwhile helping the Las Vegas community learn about immigrants.

They are not all the same.

"I'm a part of a big group of immigrants in this country who are very talented, intelligent individuals, very educated people, who, same as me, do not come to the United States by choice, but by necessity," Pereira said.

She urges clients who gain legal status to take the extra step of applying for citizenship.

Pereira, herself a legal permanent resident, applied for citizenship in May.

To educate immigrants about the country's intricate immigration laws, she appears in a weekly segment on a Spanish-language television network.

"All I do is tell people these are the laws, and this is how we as immigrants should follow the law, and this is what you should not do if you are an immigrant and you want to ever become legal in the United States. And this is how you help your family immigrate to the United States legally," she said.

"And what I'm trying to do is just make them aware of the laws. ... Most immigrants commit mistakes because they don't know what the law is."