Introducing IJC's 2019 Class of Justice Fellows!

Immigrant Justice Corps is thrilled to announce our sixth class of Justice Fellows. 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 immigrants’ 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, Houston, Texas 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 outreach and screening in underserved immigrant communities and assist with preparing benefit applications for immigrants.