Immigration Practice Staff Attorney (Entry Level)

The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – seeks a passionate entry-level attorney with a commitment to public defense to join our Immigration Practice beginning Fall 2025.

The Bronx Defenders is a public defender non-profit that is radically transforming how low-income people in the Bronx are represented in the legal system, and, in doing so, is transforming the system itself. BxD seeks thoughtful, creative individuals with a strong commitment to social justice to join our dynamic and diverse staff. Our staff of over 400 includes interdisciplinary teams made up of criminal, civil, immigration, and family defense attorneys, as well as social workers, benefits specialists, legal advocates, parent advocates, investigators, and team administrators, who collaborate to provide holistic advocacy to address the causes and consequences of legal system involvement. Through this integrated team-based structure, we have developed a groundbreaking, nationally-recognized model of representation called holistic defense that achieves better outcomes for the people we defend.

Each year, we defend more than 20,000 low-income Bronx residents in criminal, civil, family, and immigration cases, and reach thousands more through our community intake, youth mentoring, and outreach programs. Through impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community organizing, we push for systemic change at the local, state, and national levels. We take what we learn from the clients and communities that we work with and launch innovative initiatives designed to bring about real and lasting change.

Training Team

Entry-level attorneys will receive several weeks of intensive, interdisciplinary training on holistic representation, substantive relevant law, research and writing, litigation skills, client and community engagement, and the intersection of race, class, power and privilege in public defense work. Beyond this training period, attorneys will be expected to participate in consistent and comprehensive training to sharpen their advocacy skills, raise their overall consciousness and enhance their collaboration with clients and colleagues.

Immigration Practice

Twenty years ago, The Bronx Defenders developed the model of integrated criminal defense and immigration representation. Our Immigration attorneys and advocates work closely with people at risk of deportation throughout the pendency of their cases in both Criminal and Family Court to avoid and mitigate negative immigration consequences that may arise from those cases. Our Immigration staff represent people in deportation proceedings in both detained and non-detained settings, provide affirmative immigration services, and pursue community-based litigation and advocacy aimed at transforming unforgiving anti-immigrant federal laws and policy. The Immigration Practice consists of approximately 60 staff members including attorneys, social workers, legal advocates, and administrators.

Since 2013, our immigration attorneys have also served as assigned counsel at the Varick Street Immigration Court under the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP), the first-ever universal representation project in immigration court.

Responsibilities

• Advise non-citizens with pending criminal or family court cases on the immigration consequences of contemplated dispositions, and mitigate the impact of their involvement with the legal system
• Represent non-citizens in applications for immigration benefits, including: citizenship, adjustment of status, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and remedies for “victims of crimes”
• Representing both non-detained and detained non-citizens who face deportation in official removal proceedings
• Represent clients before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Immigration Court on the full scope of matters relating to removal cases, such as: bond hearings, challenges to removability, applications for relief (including, but not limited to requests for: Asylum, Withholding of Removal, Deferral of Removal under the Convention Against Torture Protection, Adjustment of Status with Waivers of inadmissibility, Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) and Non-LPR Cancellation of Removal, Special Immigration Juvenile Status, and U & T visas)
• Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals
• Collaborate with colleagues and external partners in developing and implementing defense strategies involving federal litigation, collateral appeals, policy advocacy, media engagement, and participatory defense
• Train and mentor interns

Qualifications

To be eligible, candidates must have:

• A third-year (3L) student or recent graduate of an law school

Candidates must demonstrate:

• Commitment to directly defending people with limited financial resources placed in removal proceedings or facing immigration consequences based on contact with the family regulation and/or criminal legal system
• Experience working in and with immigrant and/or low-income communities targeted by carceral systems
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people with various backgrounds, identities and experiences
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers
• Commitment to fierce advocacy, and willingness to strategically challenge authority in defense of clients
• Effective research, writing and courtroom advocacy skills
• Strong legal analytical skills and capacity to employ non-legal resources in cases
• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles
• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection and shift behavior accordingly
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters
• Commitment to raising one’s cultural consciousness and challenging oppressive practices on an interpersonal and institutional level
• A valid driver’s license (or the ability to obtain one), as the role sometimes requires travel to detention facilities outside of NYC where clients are held (vehicles are provided)
• Spanish language fluency and the ability to conduct client interviews in Spanish is highly preferred

Applicants, if hired, must:

• Sit for the New York State Bar Examination or
• Submit the alternative appropriate materials necessary for admission or waiver

This is a hybrid position that will require substantive in-person work.

Salary is commensurate with experience. For candidates with up 0-3 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position would be approximately $81,072-$86,400. Full-time employees are also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to medical, dental and vision coverage; a 403(b) plan with employer contribution; and a generous vacation, sick leave, and parental leave policy. More specific information about salary and benefits will be provided when and if an offer is extended.

Approximately 70% of The Bronx Defenders' staff, including attorneys and non-attorneys, are represented by UAW Local 2325 - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO). This position is within the bargaining unit.

This position is exempt. By law, non-exempt employees are compensated hourly based on their annual rate and therefore are entitled to over-time, whereas exempt employees are not.