Immigrant Justice Corps Announces 2019 Justice Fellows

Twenty-seven elite law graduates chosen for selective Fellowship to represent immigrants fighting deportation


NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC), the country’s first fellowship program wholly dedicated to meeting immigrants’ need for high-quality legal assistance, announced today its 2019 Justice Fellowship class. This select group of talented and promising new lawyers will represent immigrants fighting deportation and seeking lawful status and citizenship. Now more than ever, the infusion of new talent into this field will have an exponential effect in securing the rights of this vulnerable population.

Twenty-seven graduates from top law schools from around the country were chosen from a select pool of law graduates for the prestigious Fellowship at IJC, which was conceived of by Robert A. Katzmann, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and incubated by The Robin Hood Foundation in 2013.

Immigrant Justice Corps, remarked Judge Katzmann, “is having a transformative impact on the quality of legal representation for immigrants. Through their representation this remarkable incoming class of Fellows will aid all involved in the administration of justice – courts and litigants alike, and most deeply, immigrants and their families.”

“For thousands of immigrants,” he continued, “lack of resources will no longer prevent access to justice. Because of Immigrant Justice Corps’ Fellows, immigrants will have a far better chance to realize the American dream for themselves and their families.”

The new class of Fellows brings a wealth of immigration experience. To a person, the 2019 Fellows offer extensive and broad backgrounds in myriad immigration-related internships, jobs, and volunteerism. Their passion and dedication to immigrant’s rights is well-documented and impressive.

Their academic achievements are equally laudable. They are graduates of the leading law schools with exceptional immigration law programs including: Harvard, NYU, UC Hastings, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, Boston University, Yale, Cardozo School of Law, Michigan State, University of Southern California and University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

All the new Justice Fellows are bilingual – 96% of the class speak Spanish. In addition, members of the new class speak Arabic, Mandarin, French, Haitian Creole, Kiswhaili, Hindi and Wolof. More than one third of the class are first-generation immigrants themselves.

The Fellows will serve for two years placed at top legal services agencies across the country. Host organizations are located in and around New York City and New York State, as well as in Connecticut, Texas, Florida, Virginia and Maryland.

IJC is excited to announce that this year we are expanding into two new states. We are sending Justice Fellows to California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) in Sacramento and Fresno, to Public Law Center in Santa Ana, California and to the University of Nevada Law in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are also expanding to new cities in states where we have already sent Fellows, including to Stamford, Connecticut and Orlando, Florida.

“We are thrilled to welcome and support our talented 2019 Fellows whose dedication and commitment to service is exemplary,” said IJC Executive Director Jojo Annobil. “Now more than ever, immigrants need well trained and high caliber lawyers committed to protecting their due process rights. I am confident that the 2019 Fellows will make a difference in immigrants' lives every day.”

This new class will join the 2018 class of 25 Justice Fellows already in the field. Immigrant Justice Corps also employs Community Fellows, college graduates who provide individualized legal screening and representation in immigration benefits applications to underserved immigrant communities. Applications for the next class of Community Fellows are being accepted now at IJC.fluidreview.com.

 
The full list of 2019 Justice Fellows is as follows:
 
FellowLaw School2019 IJC Fellowship Host Organization
Alyssa E. BainNew York Law SchoolThe Door
Amy KimbelUCLAPublic Law Center
Audrey MulhollandAmerican UniversityTexas RioGrande Legal Aid
Brenda GarciaMichigan StateCatholic Charities - Orlando
Cindy RamirezUC HastingsBakerRipley (Houston)
Diego Menendez-EstradaBoston UniversityPublic Law Center
Emilie RaberUniversity of PennsylvaniaBuilding One Community
Emma MorgensternUniversity of PennsylvaniaVolunteers of Legal Service
Janae Hakala ChoquetteNortheasternBronx Defenders
Jessie BoasFordhamCalifornia Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (Sacramento)
Jiyoon KimNortheasternBrooklyn Defender Services
John JozkowskyBrooklyn LawSafe Horizon
John H. PengUniversity of PennsylvaniaPrisoners' Legal Services
Katrina BlackHarvardRAICES (Austin)
Kevin SiegalNew York UniversityBrooklyn Defender Services
Lesly SantosPace Law SchoolCatholic Charities
Maria MarroquinCUNYUnlocal
Mariana Negron-QuinonesCUNYSafe Passage
Maya SikandNew York UniversityNeighborhood Defender Services of Harlem
Megan ElmanGeorge WashingtonThe Long Island Project (IJC)
Nora SearleNew York UniversityBronx Defenders
Paloma GuerreroUNLVUniversity of Nevada Law, Las Vegas
Rebecca TaylorUniversity of Southern CaliforniaHuman Rights First
Rehana JamalCardozo LawNew York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)
Rosemary GomezUC HastingsCalifornia Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (Fresno)
Tamara AnaieRutgersCenter for Immigrant Representation
Thomas Scott-RailtonYaleBronx Defenders
   

About Immigrant Justice Corps

Launched in 2014, Immigrant Justice Corps is the country’s first fellowship program dedicated to meeting the unprecedented need for high-quality legal assistance for immigrants. Since then, IJC has served 49,500 immigrants and their families, and the Fellows have had a success rate of 93% in their cases – nearly seven times the success rate of those without lawyers.

Since 2014, IJC has trained 175 Justice Fellows and Community Fellows to provide exceptional legal services to low-income immigrants who cannot afford lawyers. Seventy-five Justice Fellows have graduated from the program – 92% of whom continue practicing in the immigration field after completing the IJC Justice Fellowship.

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Contact

Holly Cooper
Communications Manager
Immigrant Justice Corps
646-690-0472
hcooper@justicecorps.org
www.justicecorps.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/66b8f10d-cee1-4ed8-83fc-2f774570a18b

2019 JF class