Letter from the Editor: HPLR is Our Publication
Dear HPLR staff,
It is an honor and privilege to serve as one of the HPLR Editors-in-Chief for the 2026-2027 academic year. I step into this role with an unwavering belief in the power of your voices, and I am strongly committed to illuminating them, especially amid this moment of darkness and uncertainty for the Hispanic community. Now, more than ever, our community must draw on our lived experiences to challenge and reimagine the law, and HPLR can be the vessel through which your stories reshape our understanding of it.
During my time at Columbia, I have had the opportunity to work on a range of legal and political pieces, each one deepening my passion for bringing attention to issues facing our community. But no matter how much research I can do about issues affecting the Hispanic community, it will never be the lived experiences of the Hispanic community. In the same respect, I can never know health law as intimately as someone who has been unfairly denied medical coverage. I can never understand immigration law as it pertains to an immigrant. I believe this is what makes HPLR special: we are able to engage freely with legal scholarship as it pertains to us, and I hope that with every word you write, you recognize that your work brings others one step closer to understanding the issues you care most about.
One of my writers this past semester told me that writing her article felt personal to her. In essence, that is my simple goal for the year: to publish scholarship on law, Hispanic affairs, and contemporary issues as it pertains to us—our perspectives, our experiences, our voices—because this publication is ours, no one else's. By combining all of our ideas, I am sure we will reach beyond campus and into spaces where change can occur. More importantly, I am confident we will reach one another. As you write, I will be alongside you—learning, thinking, and growing with every piece we shape together. I hope you will allow me the privilege of doing that.
The world right now may seem scary, uncertain, or even irreparable. But I hope this publication can be an outlet that reminds you that, as a community, we can and will do everything to persevere. We will overcome. For you, that journey may begin here—with HPLR. I hope this year can convince you that your voice is heard, valued, but even more importantly, powerful.
Espero verte pronto,
Jazzlee Cerritos
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Hispanic Pre-Law Review
Jazzlee Cerritos (CC ‘28) is one of the Editors-In-Chief for the 2026-2027 academic year. She is a sophomore studying sociology and political science and is interested in immigration law, with hopes of becoming a dedicated and compassionate immigration lawyer one day.