Immigrant Justice Corps welcomes 90 Justice Fellows

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Jul 13, 2023, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, July 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) is thrilled to announce our largest-ever class of Justice Fellows. Selected for their passion, talent, and commitment to immigrants' rights, the 2023 Fellows will bring their many skills to bear on the acute legal representation crisis in immigration.

Members of the 2023 Class of IJC Justice Fellows.

The Class of 2023 cohort is three times bigger than previous classes, demonstrating the growing need for quality counsel in immigration court. In addition to our traditional Justice Fellowship program of 28 Fellows, IJC has partnered with the Vera Institue of Justice and the Acacia Center for Justice to place 62 Justice Fellows with a national network of legal service providers to represent unaccompanied children in immigration court. This partnership expands our footprint to more than 20 states to meet the urgent need for legal representation, especially for unaccompanied migrant children.

"With over two million cases pending in immigration court, our Fellows are launching their legal careers at a critical time for immigrants' rights," said Jojo Annobil, IJC's Executive Director. "Our Fellows will provide much needed counsel of the highest quality, helping to ensure that every immigrant is treated with dignity and has access to justice, which makes all the difference."

The Class of 2023 Justice Fellows come to IJC with impressive backgrounds, including education in the nation's most well-regarded immigration law programs and years of cumulative experience as client advocates. Many of these Fellows speak multiple languages and come from the communities that they will serve as advocates.

The Fellows will serve for two years as staff attorneys at strategically selected immigrant legal services providers and community-based organizations across the country, providing legal assistance to low-income immigrants in complex immigration matters including deportation defense and affirmative applications for those fleeing persecution.

"Our partnership with IJC recognizes the urgency of the representation gap which leaves hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, without access to the tools necessary to navigate a highly complex and often punitive process," said Shaina Aber, Executive Director, of the Acacia Center for Justice. "We are delighted to welcome these immensely talented Justice Fellows, many of whom will be working on the frontlines of the push to ensure the legal defense of children who entered the United States alone."

About IJC

Conceived by the late Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and incubated by the Robin Hood Foundation in 2014, Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) identifies promising lawyers and advocates passionate about immigration, places them with organizations where they can make the greatest difference and supports them with training and expert insights as they directly assist immigrants in need.

To date, over 250 IJC Fellows have supported more than 100,000 low-income immigrants and their families with a success rate of 90% on cases completed.

SOURCE Immigrant Justice Corps