Mayra Lua Reyes

Mayra Lua Reyes (she/her)

Mayra is the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents and a first-generation college student. She was born and raised in the Central Valley, in Merced, California. At an early age, she became aware of the injustices faced by her community, namely labor exploitation, and ethnic and class discrimination. She soon realized that her parents’ classification as “low-skilled workers” became a license for exploitation and discrimination in the agricultural industry.

During her university studies, Mayra has learned about the inefficiencies of our criminal justice and immigration system and their perpetration of violence and alienation. Her lived experiences and the knowledge she has gained as a student have shaped her career aspirations and her interests in public service. Mayra hopes to attend law school and become a licensed attorney specializing in one or more of the following areas: Immigration Law, Labor and Employment Law, and/or Civil Litigation. She also hopes to utilize her J.D. Degree to advance the work of public policy think tanks.

For Mayra, public service means creating opportunities and pathways to break generational barriers, and increase access to economic mobility. This includes striving for greater access to education including early childhood learning opportunities, higher education, and vocational schooling. It also includes creating a pathway to citizenship for both our existing undocumented population and incoming migrants and granting workers greater power through comprehensive labor law reforms. Such efforts will empower marginalized communities and bring us closer to an equitable society.

During her time at UC Berkeley, Mayra has served as a caseworker for the ASUC Student Legal Clinic, where she helped provide free legal research and free tax filing services, and as the President for Womxn in Politics where she helped educate and empower our future leaders in public service. Mayra has also assisted self-represented litigants in family and housing law as an intern for Bay Area Legal Aid’s Housing and Domestic Violence Clinic, as well as assisted in the creation and filing of various immigration petitions as a Legal Intern at Warren Law Firm, a business immigration law firm in San Francisco, CA.