While many American citizens were horrified to see Afghan men and women clinging to airplanes to try to escape Kabul in 2021, few knew how to help. But Jacob DeFazio 21C 24L’s work to help Afghan interpreters who risked their lives working with US military during America’s longest war has been recognized with a national public service award.

DeFazio was one of two Merit Distinction Finalists for The National Association for Law Placement’s PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award, which acknowledges significant contributions by a 2L or 3L student to underserved populations, and honors law students whose commitment to public service contributes to building a pro bono culture among their classmates. Notice of the award was sent August 29, 2024, just a few days after DeFazio joined the Chatham County Public Defender’s Office as a provisional attorney.

“I started law school in August 2021, when we pulled out of Afghanistan and as the Taliban were beginning to take over the country,” DeFazio said. “While I thought the withdrawal was necessary and the war had gone on too long, I felt the way we withdrew amounted to a betrayal of our allies and the entire civil structure we had spent two decades building.”

DeFazio arrived at Emory Law as Woodruff Scholar with a strong interest in public service. He was already interested in immigration law, so he felt compelled to learn more when former Assistant Dean for Public Service Rita Sheffey invited Will Felder 13L, a former US Army infantry officer, to present to students on Tarjoman. Felder co-founded the organization with fellow veterans and two Afghan translators, to do everything possible to help the Tarjoman, or translators, left behind.

“Will and I held an event to get volunteers to sign up,” DeFazio said. “I told them about our work helping our allies, about the conditions in Afghanistan—which are horrendous due to a combination of economic sanctions and totalitarian rule by the Taliban—and about what we had available for them to do.”

DeFazio’s efforts resulted in 11 other Emory Law students volunteering with Tarjoman.

“I think what got them committed was understanding how much these people in Afghanistan were willing to sacrifice for a country most of them had never been to, only to be left to our enemies,” he said. “We presented an opportunity to make up for where we failed as a country and, like the thousands of veterans and other Americans who have been working tirelessly on this, they jumped at the opportunity.”

DeFazio said he’s worked with about 10 families since 2021. “And as of today, only one of them was granted a visa to the United States,” he said.

One of his clients was a mujahideen fighter who resisted against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. He had repeatedly aided US military and Afghan security forces, including saving a squadron of US soldiers from being lost in a sandstorm, DeFazio said. Despite filing and refiling visa documents, his appeal was denied.

Nominations for the Pro Bono Publico Award were accepted from 184 PSJD member schools across the country last fall.

“Jacob stood out in our deliberations for his self-created role as volunteer coordinator for Tarjoman Relief,” NALP’s Samuel Halpert wrote. “While the award ultimately went to another nominee, my colleagues at NALP and I nonetheless wanted to applaud his exemplary work.”

Three years after the US left, other conflicts have obscured focus on Afghanistan.

“The government has effectively stopped processing visas for our Afghan allies,” DeFazio said. We have shifted focus to directing those Afghans who did make it to the US to organizations that assist them with settling into their new lives here.”

DeFazio pursued public interest work throughout his time at Emory Law, said Corey Hirokawa, assistant director of the Center for Public Service. She nominated DeFazio. In addition to interning at the Fulton County Public Defender’s Office and serving as a student attorney at the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic, DeFazio received a prestigious J.P. Stevens Fellowship in 2023 to work at the Georgia Public Defender Council’s Gang and RICO Unit. In addition to recruiting and mentoring new volunteers for Tarjoman, he spent part of summer break to create a handbook to help train students who chose to do pro bono work there.

“Jacob saw an opportunity to serve more clients by getting more Emory Law students involved in pro bono volunteering and spearheaded recruiting efforts,” Hirokawa said. “This was a self-created role, not something created or pushed by either Tarjoman or the Emory administration.”