Immigrant Justice Corps Welcomes New Class of Community Fellows

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Sep 01, 2021, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Six graduates from colleges across the country have been chosen for the prestigious two-year Community Fellowship at Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC).

Selected for their talent, passion, lived experience, and commitment to immigrant justice, these promising recent graduates will provide individualized legal screening and representation in immigration benefits applications to underserved immigrants.

L-R: Jose-Romarah Chery, Carolina Espinal, Jennalei Louie, Assata Davis, Marian Anaya Castillo, Martina Carrillo

The 2021 Community Fellows come to IJC with extensive backgrounds in immigration-related internships, jobs, and volunteerism. All the new Fellows are bilingual, with fluency in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Cantonese.

"We are delighted to welcome our newest class of Community Fellows," said Jojo Annobil, Executive Director of IJC. "For the first time, all the Fellows are either first-generation or immigrants themselves, and they all draw from personal experience to inform their advocacy and pursuit of justice for low-income immigrants."

Community Fellows become Department of Justice Accredited Representatives, which allows them to represent clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Since 2014, IJC Community Fellows have filed more than 6,062 fee waiver applications and saved low-income clients nearly $4 million in fees and have won 95% of cases closed.

The 2021 Community Fellow applicants were the most competitive to date, with only 6 Fellows selected out of just over 100 applications.

This new cohort will join the 2020 class of 9 Community Fellows, already in the field.

About IJC

Founded 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, 230 IJC Fellows have supported more than 80,000 low-income immigrants and their families with a success rate of 90% on cases completed. As of September 1, there will be 77 IJC Justice and Community Fellows serving in 11 states and 33 cities.

SOURCE Immigrant Justice Corps