Immigration Policy Director

About NYLAG: Founded in 1990, NYLAG is a leading civil legal services organization combatting economic, racial, and social injustice by advocating for people experiencing poverty or in crisis. Our services include comprehensive, free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. NYLAG exists because wealth should not determine who has access to justice. We aim to disrupt systemic racism by serving individuals and families whose legal and financial crises are often rooted in racial inequality. NYLAG goes to where the need is, providing services in more than 150 community sites (e.g. courts, hospitals, libraries) and on our Mobile Legal Help Center. NYLAG’s staff of 410 impacted the lives of nearly 129,000 people last year.

Job description NYLAG has an immediate opening for an Immigration Policy Director (PD) who will lead systemic policy advocacy work both within NYLAG and in partnership with other immigration service providers in New York. The PD will serve as an internal and external resource to build capacity, strategize priorities ripe for reform, and balance emergency response with long-term goals to advance immigrant justice. This newly created role will support strategic inter-organizational coordination with over a dozen NYC legal service providers. The Policy Director will report to a Vice President. Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership in identifying and responding to changes in immigration law and policy to support communities and advocates.
• Engage in policy advocacy to advance immigrant justice and oppose rollbacks in protections, laws, and policies.
• Coordinate meetings and emails to digest, and summarize Executive Orders, policy and practice changes, proposed and adopted rule changes, and proposed and passed federal legislation pertaining to immigration law, border policy, litigation and case law updates, and enforcement action for NYLAG and partner agencies.
• Coordinate and develop trainings and resources for internal and external providers to elevate practice in response to the changing environment.
• Bring together partner agencies to share information and promote cross-collaborative spaces for immigration legal service providers to strategize on programmatic and policy work.
• Alongside internal NYLAG units and external partners, identify opportunities to lead and/or collaborate in impact litigation cases.
• Provide comments and testimony grounded in community experience, for issues related to immigration.
• Serve as a resource for NYLAG and partner organizations to break down changes, impacts, advise on best practices and innovative responses; conduct legal and factual research; complete legislative and data analysis; and pursue advocacy opportunities as a collaborative.
• Coordinate with local, state-wide, and national coalitions and networks.
• Create public facing materials and information guides for communities and community partners.
• Collaborate inter-agency to track and coordinate resources, capacity, and services of various partners to minimize repetition, identify gaps in need, and expand collective impact.
• Work closely with leadership, staff, and partners on the ground serving immigrant communities, to ensure priorities and work center the communities we serve and is informed by the realities of navigating our legal systems.
• Assist with reporting. Qualifications
• Juris Doctorate, and admission in good standing to a Bar Association in the U.S.
• Either:
• A minimum of 10-15 years of experience in immigration law, a minimum of 8 years of which doing removal defense ; or
• A minimum of 10 years of experience with immigration policy and legislative advocacy or drafting, including work in coalitions towards the same;
• Experience providing direct services to immigrant communities in New York, required.
• Expertise building and managing relationships with legal and social service organizations, community-based organizations, and elected officials.
• Project management experience, including building and adapting innovative programs, strongly preferred.
• Dedication to advancing social, racial, and economic justice through direct service work and policy advocacy within communities.
• Familiarity with the network of New York City services that serve immigrant New Yorkers.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Highly organized and able to juggle multiple priorities. In addition, successful candidates will:
• Demonstrate commitment to active mentorship of staff and effective team building cross units and organizations.
• Be innovative and adaptable, including efficiently leveraging resources to strengthen our collective capacity to do our work.
• Embrace incorporating perspectives of communities, community-based organizations, and stakeholders in setting advocacy goals and priorities.
• Demonstrate ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with partners and community members.

NYLAG’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion NYLAG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and those with lived experiences in the communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.

Employment type : ☒ Full-time

Professional Level: ☒ Managerial

Salary Range : NYLAG is a unionized workplace, and salaries are set pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The current salary range for this position is $130,000 - $140,000.

Covid Vaccination Policy: Please note, to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees and clients, NYLAG requires all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless a medical or religious exemption is approved.