NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC), the country's first fellowship program dedicated to meeting immigrants' need for high-quality legal assistance, announced today its sixth class of Justice Fellows. Selected for their compassion, intellect, and commitment to immigrants' rights, the 2020 Fellows will bring their many skills to bear on this acutely emerging representation crisis in immigration.

Twenty-six graduates from top law schools around the country were chosen for the prestigious Fellowship at IJC. The Class of 2020 Fellows come to IJC with already-impressive backgrounds, including education in the nation's most well-regarded immigration law programs and years of cumulative experience as client advocates. All the 2020 Justice Fellows are bilingual and fluent in Spanish, among other languages. This year, the number of Justice Fellow applications received by IJC rose by 34 percent.

"This remarkably gifted incoming class of Immigrant Justice Corps Fellows will make all the difference for the thousands of immigrants they will represent and their families, providing the highest quality of legal counsel, so necessary if justice for all is to be realized," said IJC's founder, Robert A. Katzmann, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

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

In addition, IJC is excited to announce that this year it is tripling its presence at Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition (CAIR) in order to substantially close the representation gap in Prince George's County, Maryland, outside Washington, DC. IJC Fellows will also be sent to two new host organizations this year: Innovation Law Lab in El Paso, Texas and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) in Fresno, California.

"Every immigrant, regardless of status, should be treated with respect and dignity and afforded access to justice through high-quality legal services," said IJC's Executive Director, Jojo Annobil. "We are extremely excited and energized to welcome these immensely talented Justice Fellows who are launching their legal careers at such a critical time for immigrants' rights."

IJC's Class of 2020 Justice Fellows:

The new class will begin in September 2020 and join the 27 Justice Fellows already in the field who are entering the second year of their Fellowship.

Background

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, more than 200 IJC Fellows have provided representation in over 25,000 legal matters and assisted more than 70,000 low-income immigrants and their families with a success rate of 92 percent on cases completed. There are currently 82 Fellows serving in 11 states and 33 cities.

SOURCE Immigrant Justice Corps

Related Links

http://justicecorps.org/