Staff Attorney, Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative

Job Details

Status: Full-Time, Specific Term through 6/30/2025 (likely renewal upon receipt of funding)
Location: Newark, NJ
Application Deadline: January 30, 2025

For consideration, please attach your Cover Letter and Resume to the online application in addition to answering the Application Questions.

Summary of Principal Responsibilities

The Staff Attorney will be part of the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, a publicly funded project that provides representation for immigrants in removal proceedings, including people in detention and people living in their communities. The Staff Attorney is responsible for direct legal representation of immigrants in removal proceedings or otherwise facing removal.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the Staff Attorney include the following:

• Provide in-depth individual consultations and representation to indigent unrepresented immigrants before the Elizabeth, Newark, and other Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and federal District Courts and Courts of Appeals (where possible).
• Participate in meetings with government representatives, jail staff, and service providers.
• Assist in the documentation of the project’s experiences and in the preparation of AFSC quarterly reports and reports to funding sources.
• Manage caseload and maintain client files in good order, including applications, letters, supporting documentation, and follow-up work.
• Maintain client and case information in AFSC case management systems.
• Work with AFSC’s Social Workers to meet clients’ social services needs.
• In collaboration with AFSC staff and other stakeholders, engage in policy and advocacy work concerning issues raised by clients.
• Conduct presentations on immigration issues.
• If representing detained clients, monitor conditions and access at detention centers and jails, and other enforcement trends for use in reports and advocacy.
• Participate in AFSC staff meetings and case reviews.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Admission to a state bar required.

Experience:

• A minimum of one year of experience (including law school clinical experience) with immigration law and procedures, with removal defense experience.
• Excellent legal skills and understanding of movement lawyering.
• Bilingual English/Spanish or English/French highly desirable.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, well-organized, able to prioritize assignments and workload.
• Ability to communicate effectively and build mutually respectful relationships with co-workers, clients, and the public.
• Familiarity with software applications in a Windows and cloud-based environment.
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends; ability to travel out of town as needed.

Other Required Skills and Abilities

• Commitment to Quaker values and testimonies. Understanding of and compatibility with the principles and philosophy of the American Friends Service Committee, including non-violence and the belief in the intrinsic worth of every individual.
• Understanding of and commitment to the principles, concerns, and considerations of AFSC regarding issues of race, class, nationality, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work and communicate with diverse communities.

Compensation

Salary Range: 15 (starting at $65,000, commensurate with experience) – Exempt
Comprehensive medical and hospitalization plan; term life, accident, and salary continuation insurances; defined benefit pension plan, plus fringe benefits; participation in unemployment, worker’s compensation, and social security.

The American Friends Service Committee is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified persons are encouraged to apply regardless of their religious affiliation, national origin, race, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

AFSC’s Central Office and some of its U.S. offices are unionized workplaces. This position is represented.

The American Friends Service Committee is a smoke-free workplace.

Learn more here