Julian Miramontes, a 14-year-old from Los Angeles, has earned national recognition for creating a mobile app designed to help immigrants understand their legal rights. Miramontes, an eighth-grader at El Sereno Middle School, developed the Know Your Rights app after witnessing the fear and uncertainty related to immigration enforcement in his community. The app explains key constitutional protections and uses short quizzes to make complex legal concepts easier to understand. His project won the Congressional App Challenge for California’s 34th Congressional District.Julian Miramontes is a middle school student from the El Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles who developed an early interest in technology and coding. He developed his skills through the school’s STEM program, and teachers and family described him as full of curiosity and a sense of community. His work does not focus on competition, but rather reflects efforts to use technology to address real-life issues that impact those around him.
How the Know Your Rights app helps immigrants
Miramontes said the idea for the app came from seeing how immigration raids and law enforcement operations caused fear and chaos in his community. Many people do not know what their legal rights are when they come into contact with federal agents. With the guidance of STEM teachers, he designed the app to be a quick, reliable resource that can be used in stressful situations.The Know Your Rights app explains in clear language basic constitutional protections, including the right to remain silent. Information is divided into subsections and reinforced with simple multiple-choice quizzes to help users check their understanding. The app’s design focuses on clarity, speed, and accessibility, making the app usable by people without legal training who need information quickly.
Recognition and next steps
The Know Your Rights app won California’s 34th Congressional District’s Congressional App Challenge, a national competition that encourages middle school and high school students to create apps that address community needs. As a regional winner, Miramontes received a cash prize and an invitation to Washington, D.C., to meet other student winners.His parents say the project reflects both his technical skills and his care for others. U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez praised the app for addressing the community’s fears and achieving the competition’s goals. The app has not yet been made public and is currently only accessible via a shared link, but it has attracted positive attention online. Miramontes said his focus remains on helping people feel informed and less fearful.
