Naz Ahmad, 30, a Columbia University Law School graduate, is one of three lawyers working at CUNY CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility), a project of the CUNY Law School which “aims to address the unmet legal needs of Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and other communities in the New York City area that are particularly affected by national security and counter-terrorism policies and practices,” as its website states.
The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, Ahmad and her lawyer colleagues supervise a group of 19 CUNY students who assist them in their work. Since 2009 CUNY CLEAR has represented more than 300 clients and facilitated more than 230 Know Your Rights workshops at nearly 100 different community sites across NYC.
Nisrine Sahla and Anne Alink of the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht visited Ahmad and spoke with her about her work.