Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Atlanta), Senior Staff Attorney

Advancing Justice – Atlanta’s mission is to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in Georgia and the Southeast through policyadvocacy, legal services, civic engagement, and leadership development. Our vision is a socialmovement where individuals are fully empowered, active in civic life, and working together topromote equity and fair treatment for all.

Advancing Justice – Atlanta provides comprehensive, high-quality immigration legal services toimmigrant communities in Georgia. Our multilingual team assists low-income immigrants in obtaining lawful status, becoming citizens, and defending against deportation. We seek toempower immigrants through free immigration legal workshops and community education programs. In 2020, we provided free or low-cost legal services to over 700 individuals in 20different languages.

Position:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta seeks a Senior Staff Attorney to provide and assistin the supervision of immigration legal services to individuals in removal proceedings. Holdingover 10% of all immigration detainees in the United States, Georgia is a leader in immigrationdetention. The Atlanta Immigration Court’s denial rates are also amongst the highest in the country, making the need for deportation defense even more critical.

This opportunity is gearedtowards an attorney with at least three years of experience practicing before immigration agencies.

Responsibilities:

• Independently manage a caseload of deportation defense cases, including bond and paroleproceedings, asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the Convention Against Torture,U nonimmigrant status, T nonimmigrant status, VAWA, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status with applicable waivers, motions toreopen, and appeals;
• Assist in the supervision of the legal work of staff attorneys and legal representatives insupport of both detained and non-detained individuals in removal proceedings;
• Conduct immigration consultations and provide pro se legal advice;
• Travel to detention centers in Georgia to meet with detainees (once safe to do so per public health guidelines and organizational policy);
• Provide topic-specific trainings in immigration law and practice for legal staff;
• Participate in community outreach and educational activities, including Know-Your-Rights workshops and citizenship clinics;
• Develop relationships with stakeholders and community partners;
• Contribute to grant applications and reports.

Qualifications:

• Local to the Atlanta area, with access to reliable transportation. The position willlargely be remote for the time being due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will likelyrequire limited travel to and from the Advancing Justice – Atlanta office in Norcross,GA for certain tasks. Precautions are in place to ensure safe access to the office.
• J.D. from an accredited university;
• Membership in good standing in the bar of any state and/or the District of Columbia;
• A sincere desire to advocate for social change in immigrant communities through legal services and in a community setting;
• Excellent communication, analytical, organizational, and writing skills;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and respectfully with a diverse clientpopulation as well as with community members;
• Flexibility to attend evening and weekend events and meetings, as needed.
• At least three years of experience practicing before immigration agencies;
• Prior experience training staff and supervising casework;
• Fluency in Spanish or one Asian language (Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Urdu/Hindi,Arabic).

How to Apply:
Please send a resume, cover letter, 3 references, and a legal writing sample (5-10 pages) to Palmer Lawrence at (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).