Staff Attorney, Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI) - Immigration Law Unit - New York, NY

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Staff Attorney, Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI) - Immigration Law Unit

#25-176

New York, New York, United States

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Deadline is 3 : 00 PM EST for Date Listed

Dec 12, 2025

Job Description

The Legal Aid Society's Civil Practice is seeking a Staff Attorney to join the citywide Immigration Law Unit's Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI) team.

The IOI team provides low-income New Yorkers with free comprehensive immigration services ranging from removal defense to both affirmative and defensive asylum to other matters before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

The IOI Staff Attorney will provide a full range of legal services primarily to New York City immigrants including, but not limited to, individuals with criminal convictions, recent arrivals to the U.S. seeking asylum, including Adults with Children (AWC). Services include representation before EOIR in defensive matters, USCIS in various affirmative matters, and before Family Courts to seek special findings orders for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). The attorney will also work collaboratively with existing experienced staff in the Unit's various other projects. Specific duties will include some combination of the foregoing, depending on need and attorney experience.

The Immigration Law Unit (ILU) in The Legal Aid Society's Civil Practice is a recognized leader in providing high-quality representation to non-citizens in all five boroughs of New York City and surrounding counties. Our staff of almost 100 attorneys, social workers, and paralegals across six different projects and initiatives works collaboratively to provide client-centered, interdisciplinary, and comprehensive legal services.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

• Screen and provide legal representation to immigrants on the non-detained docket in Immigration Court at 26 Federal Plaza, 290 Broadway, and 201 Varick Street (non-detained)
• Screen and provide direct representation to immigrants seeking affirmative relief with USCIS and other immigration authorities
• Appear in Family Court in all five boroughs of the City of New York and surrounding counties, to seek SIJS special findings orders
• Provide client services during evening / weekend hours as needed
• Train and mentor law students, pro bono attorneys, and volunteers to work on removal defense and other cases
• Conduct forums and workshops in immigrant communities on immigration issues
• Maintain, organize, and update case files and case management database (LawManager)
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications :

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range : $84,000- $152,500

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov / loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF :

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org .

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one's internal deeply-held sense of one's gender which may be the same or different from one's sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one's name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.

Location

Manhattan - Civil Practice Lower Manhattan Neighborhood Office