Immigration Staff Attorney

PASO – West Suburban Action Project (Proyecto de Acción de los Suburbios del Oeste) is a community-based social justice organization that works to engage community members to address issues that affect them, their families, and neighbors with the mission to build stronger communities where all residents can live dignified lives regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic or immigration status. PASO was founded in March 2009 to fight for immigrant rights in west suburban Cook County and other collar counties, and its mission is to develop the leadership skills of the immigrant community so they can organize, create opportunities, and exercise their collective power.

PASO is based in Melrose Park, Illinois, and primarily serves the western Cook County suburbs. PASO has been well-positioned to serve as a one-stop shop for direct services for new immigrants, refugees, and asylees. All 12 current staff share a Latino cultural background with the community served and speak Spanish, in order to most effectively serve members of the Spanish-speaking community with limited English proficiency (LEP). PASO helps clients apply for a variety of benefits, provides health education and support, helps clients exercise their rights as tenants, and helps them navigate labor rights and employment issues.

Relaunching PASO’s Legal Services

As part of an organizational restructure in 2020, PASO’s Legal Services, which had served clients for 5 years, was paused. Given the significant need from immigrant communities in the western suburbs, we are relaunching PASO’s legal services program and are looking for an immigration staff attorney to lead and run PASO’s immigration legal clinic.

This person will work with and manage a full time paralegal and client services staff member to run a low cost immigration legal clinic where they will support individual clients as well as hold immigration relevant workshops. The staff attorney will manage a wide caseload that may include the following: naturalization & citizenship processing, permanent residency, adjustment of status, consular processing, family petition, re-entry permits, DACA renewals, U Visa and T Visa, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), asylum, removal defense, humanitarian parole, and special immigrant juvenile visas.

The ideal candidate is someone ready to make a daily meaningful impact on our resident’s lives. This person needs to be systems and detail oriented and are eager at the opportunity to relaunch a program. Most importantly, this person needs to have deep compassion for their clients and cares deeply for how PASO organizes residents to build collective power.

This position is in person and based in Melrose Park, Illinois.

Reports to: Executive Director

RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Clinic Supervision & Oversight

• Support the DOJ recognition and accreditation process
• Work with the paralegal, client services, and Executive Director to develop clinic operations & systems
• Manage paralegal and client services staff person and set up systems to ensure day to day operations and client services

Clinic Services

• Provide legal services and manage a caseload of clients on a range of immigration services including: naturalization & citizenship processing, permanent residency, adjustment of status, consular processing, family petition, re-entry permits, DACA renewals, U Visa and T Visa, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), asylum, removal defense, humanitarian parole, and special immigrant juvenile visas
• Draft legal documents such as applications, petitions, appeals, motions and waivers
• Conduct legal research and monitor changes in current immigration law and policy
• Represent clients in court and before government agencies

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated commitment to social justice and power building with immigrant communities
• J.D. degree from accredited law school and be in good standing with state bar association
• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• At least 3-5 years of experience practicing immigration law
• Strong understanding of immigration law, statues and procedures
• Excellent research, writing, and analytical skills
• Able to handle multiple cases at once and work independently to meet deadlines
• Strong organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Proficiency in Google Suite and Microsoft applications

COMPENSATION:

Salary of $80,000-$85,000 annually and benefits include 100% employee coverage of medical, dental and vision insurance. Cell phone and mileage reimbursement. Generous time off and flexibility.

TO APPLY:

Please send a resume and a cover letter to hiring@pasoaction.org. To ensure prompt attention, put “Staff Attorney” in the subject line. The position will be filled as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is January 10th, 2025

Equal Opportunity:

PASO is an equal opportunity employer. PASO does not discriminate against or tolerate harassment of any employee because of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, physical or mental disability, or any other basis prohibited by law, or protected activity under the anti-discrimination statutes.

Women, LGBTQIA people, and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.