Health Justice Immigration Staff Attorney

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), a community-driven civil rights organization, seeks an Immigration Staff Attorney in our Health Justice program.  

 About the Health Justice Program 

The Health Justice (HJ) program brings a racial justice and immigrant rights focus to healthcare advocacy in New York City and State. In partnership with individuals and community-based organizations, we use a wide range of advocacy tools – including community organizing, coalition-building, individual representation, impact litigation, and legislative advocacy – to advance four broad goals: (1) combat the human rights crisis in immigration detention; (2) promote immigrant access to healthcare; (3) eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination and systemic and institutional barriers that limit New Yorkers access to healthcare; and (4) address the social determinants of health so that all New Yorkers can live a healthy life. 

About the Role: 

Working under the supervision of the Program Directors, the Immigration Staff Attorney will spend a significant portion of their time providing direct immigration representation across NYLPI’s Health Justice campaigns. Responsibilities include legal representation and health advocacy for undocumented and seriously ill New Yorkers to make them eligible to enroll in state-funded health insurance. It will include significant direct immigration representation for individuals of trans experience, those who identify as gender-nonconforming, intersex, or those living with HIV; advocating for access to gender-affirming healthcare, health insurance, and related benefits with City and State agencies; analyzing health and immigration intakes completed by advocates and interns; performing outreach and education and coordinating screening clinics where valuable; strategizing campaign goals as well as structure and processes; and developing systemic solutions informed by individual client work. The Immigration Staff Attorney will have the opportunity to further NYLPI’s legal strategies in support of noncitizens with medical conditions and/or disabilities receiving inadequate healthcare while confined in immigration detention.  

Guided by the experiences of our clients and community partners, the Immigration Staff Attorney will engage in legal, policy, and administrative advocacy, as well as community organizing and outreach, coalition-building, and media work. The Immigration Staff Attorney will participate in high-impact policy advocacy to promote the needs of immigrant communities in New York and thoughtfully engage with advocacy coalitions and community partners. The Immigration Staff Attorney will also have the opportunity to develop their own initiatives to address community needs and to step in where issues arise in other Health Justice campaigns as desired, such as improving access to healthcare in immigration detention and reforming the City’s response to the increased arrival of asylum seekers. The Immigration Staff Attorney will work both independently and in collaboration with other attorneys, advocates, community organizers, and communications and lobbying experts. 

About UndocuCare: 

The UndocuCare campaign developed out of a great unmet need in New York City. Since its creation, NYLPI’s team has become deeply knowledgeable about the intersection of immigration and health and has developed a practice taking on complex cases in a holistic manner. The campaign expanded to include the TGNCI+ project to support transgender, gender-nonconforming, intersex (TGNCI) and undocumented individuals living with HIV to obtain and sustain access to gender affirming care and HIV care. The project achieves this through a combination of policy and administrative advocacy, and direct immigration representation – filing for viable relief in a defensive or affirmative posture, including asylum, U- and T-visas, and family-based applications.  

QUALIFICATIONS 

Required: 

• Immigration law experience, including significant experience representing clients in applications such as asylum, I-130 petitions and I-485 applications, U- and T- visas, and deferred action; 
• Excellent writing, analytic and public speaking skills and ability to be flexible in approach and strategy; 
• Excellent leadership skills, strategic judgment, entrepreneurial spirit, and the drive to originate and effectuate challenging campaigns; 
• Professional working proficiency in Spanish (ILR 3 and above); 
• Ability to independently manage a diverse and complex caseload; 
• Ability to work in meaningful collaboration with a diverse range of clients and community partners, including elected and government agency officials; 
• Demonstrated commitments to immigrant rights, LGBTQIA justice and healthcare advocacy; 
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and 
• Attorney in good standing, licensed to practice law in the State of New York or eligible for admission to the New York Bar at the time of hiring. 

Preferred: 

• At least 3-4 years of relevant experience, including both affirmative and defensive work; 
• Exposure to healthcare systems, Medicaid, and/or New York City benefits agencies a plus; 
• Experience working with coalitions of community members and community-based organizations highly valued;  
• Experience working with individuals with mental health conditions and complex trauma; 
• Experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community; and 
• Proficiency in other languages is also a plus. 

About NYLPI 

For nearly 50 years, NYLPI has been a leading civil rights advocate for New Yorkers opposing marginalization based on race, immigration status, poverty, disability, and a range of intersectional identities. NYLPI pioneered the practice of community lawyering in the five boroughs of New York City. These communities shape our priorities, and their struggles for justice demand innovative solutions. Our interdisciplinary teams of advocates use every tool available – community organizing, impact litigation and individual representation, policy advocacy, media, pro bono partnerships, and public education – to solve seemingly intractable problems, develop leaders, and build collective power to achieve justice. We strive to create equal access to health care, achieve equality of opportunity and self-determination for people with disabilities, ensure immigrant opportunity, strengthen local nonprofits, and secure environmental justice for frontline communities. To learn more about NYLPI, visit www.nylpi.org.