Immigrant Justice Corps Inc

Programs: Immigration status is directly linked with economic well-being. Immigrants and their children make up nearly half of those living in poverty in new york city - more than 800,000 people - and non-citizens experience poverty at much higher rates than the city overall. Detention and deportation practices have exacerbated these challenges. Between 2005 and 2010, the parents of over 7,000 u. S. Citizen children in new york city were deported and over 10,000 were detained without bond, resulting in significant hardship and emotional trauma. Legal assistance provided by lawyers or trained legal advocates is the most direct intervention available to help lift immigrant families out of poverty. Legal assistance can facilitate immigrants' transition to valid legal status, which enables them to obtain lawful employment, receive financial aid and in-state tuition to attend school (thus improving their earning potential), access health insurance and, if necessary, obtain temporary benefits such as food and income supports. Preventing detention and deportation keeps immigrant children from being funneled into foster care or suffering the educational and health complications of family separation. Ijc recruits talented lawyers and college graduates from around the country and places them at new york's leading non-profit legal services providers, community-based organizations, and in-house at ijc. Two types of fellowships are provided. Justice fellows are recent law school graduates who handle complex immigration cases, such as: removal defense, asylum, violence against women act (vawa), and special immigrant juvenile status (sijs). Community fellows are recent college graduates who conduct outreach and legal intake in underserved neighborhoods, and file applications for citizenship, green cards, and deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca), under the direct supervision of ijc staff attorneys. 57 justice fellows and 21 community fellows are working with roughly 34 non-profit organizations and community based organizations serving new york city, long island, the lower hudson valley, and new jersey.