Jojo Annobil is Chief Executive Officer of Immigrant Justice Corps. He joined IJC as Executive Director in 2016. He has worked on the frontlines of the struggle for immigrant rights for nearly two decades. As a litigator, administrator, and adjunct professor, he has championed access to justice for low-income immigrants, advocated for legal reform of U.S. immigration laws, and fought to end racism and xenophobia in a country of immigrants.
For more than a decade, Jojo served as Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society’s Immigration Law Unit, where his projects and collaborations increased representation for low-income New York immigrants. As co-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Immigration, Jojo spearheaded the drafting of Standards of Representation for Immigration Clients to promote competent quality representation. He joined the Immigration Representation Study Group created by the late Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As a member of that body, Jojo played a critical role in the development and implementation of the first universal right-to-counsel project for low-income New York detainees facing deportation from the United States.
Jojo is an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, where he co-teaches the Immigrant Defense Clinic. He also serves as Special Counsel to the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division First Department’s Disciplinary Committee on Immigration matters.
Jojo is the recipient of the Feerick Center for Social Justice’s Champion of Justice Award, Asian Americans for Equality Agent of Change Award, the Fordham Law School Louis J. Lefkowitz Public Service Award, a New York City Council Proclamation for Outstanding Service to the City of New York, and the New York City Bar Legal Services Award. Jojo is a graduate of Fordham Law School.