Jessica Hamilton has joined the Wasatch Immigration Project as one of its newest immigration attorneys, expanding the nonprofit’s capacity to provide legal services and outreach to residents across Summit and Wasatch counties.
Hamilton, who earned her law degree from the University of Utah, began her education studying political science and history at the University of Kansas, where her interest in immigration law first took shape. While in school, she volunteered at a small law office that worked with immigrants on their cases — an experience that sparked her passion for the field and gave her a deeper understanding of the challenges people face navigating the system.
“I really loved it,” she said. “I saw that immigration law was a way to help people and improve their lives, because if you can help them get immigration status, it’s hopefully one less thing they have to worry about.”
Hamilton also brings a personal connection to the work being the daughter of immigrants. Her parents, from Costa Rica and Bolivia, met as young students at Heston College, a small Kansas school where her father arrived on a soccer scholarship and her mother came to live near her own father.
They later opened an Italian restaurant in Costa Rica — a decision Hamilton is unsure of the reason, she explained with a laugh, noting it had nothing to do with their heritage — before returning to the United States to start a family. Hamilton grew up speaking Spanish at home and visiting relatives abroad, experiences that kept her closely connected to her family’s roots.
Growing up surrounded by immigration stories within her own family — including when her grandmother became a naturalized citizen while Hamilton was in college — she said she came to see immigration law as a meaningful way to help people.
After college, Hamilton moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, an organization that provides legal services to undocumented children in government shelters. That experience cemented her path.
She enrolled at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, where she immersed herself in immigration advocacy. As a student, she directed the school’s pro bono Immigration Law Clinic and volunteered at Catholic Community Services of Utah, assisting unaccompanied minors seeking legal status.
Her connection to the Wasatch Immigration Project began through one of her law professors, volunteer attorney Karen Flagg.
“She told me about this new immigration nonprofit in Park City,” Hamilton recalled. “I reached out, and that’s how I met Maggie, John, and the team.”
After graduation, Hamilton applied for an open attorney position at the nonprofit. This summer, just after passing the bar exam and being sworn in as an attorney, she joined the team full time.
Hamilton described the role as a rewarding opportunity to do the kind of immigration work she’d long hoped to pursue.
At the nonprofit, Hamilton has begun assisting clients alongside the organization’s legal team as she settles into her new role. She said one of Wasatch Immigration Project’s most impactful contributions is expanding access to justice in areas like Summit County, where affordable legal services for immigrants were previously scarce.
“There’s a gap in legal services and in nonprofits providing free or low-cost help for the immigrant community, and I think WIP is filling that gap,” she said. “Everyone deserves to be represented in court, especially in immigration court, where the stakes are so high. People could be deported to a country where they face real danger.”
According to national data, she noted, a majority of immigrants in deportation proceedings go unrepresented, leaving them to navigate complex laws on their own. That reality drives Hamilton’s commitment to her clients — and to the community that makes Wasatch Immigration Project’s work possible.
“I feel really grateful for the Park City community, that they care about this work and support it,” she said. “Because of that, we can help people who might not otherwise have access to legal services.”
For information or to schedule a consultation, contact the Wasatch Immigration Project at 801-683-9613 or visit wasatchimmigrationproject.org. While the organization prioritizes residents of Summit and Wasatch counties, they can provide referrals when a case falls outside their criteria.