CUNY Law is proud to have five of our students be selected as Immigrant Justice Corps 2021 Fellows selected for their “skills and proven commitment to immigrant rights” as members of a 103-person cohort extending access to justice at 49 host organizations in 11 states.
Fellows:
- Jennifer Acevedo ’21
- Liora Cohen-Fraade ’21
- Cristal Enriquez ’21
- Karla Hernandez ’21
- Olivia Page-Pollard ’21
Each student is an active member of our Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic, esteemed for its exploration, development, and implementation of ideas and strategies to close the growing legal divide between citizens and non-citizens of the United States of America. This is a record number of CUNY Law students being selected in one year, setting CUNY Law apart as a major contributor to the field and source of fantastic young lawyering and advocacy talent.
“We are thrilled that five of the INRC’s intrepid student attorneys have been awarded the Immigrant Justice Corps Justice Fellowship. They are among the organizers, immigrant communities, and advocates that continue to fight to dismantle and reimagine the current immigration system, a system rooted in racist exclusion that categorizes immigrants into ‘deserving’ and ‘non-deserving.’ In the interim, we know that access to quality legal counsel is essential to whether an immigrant will be able to successfully remain in the United States.
“These students have worked tirelessly this year—representing individual clients in the federal courts, in deportation proceedings, before administrative agencies, as well as working with community partners to advance critical policy issues through conducting Know Your Rights presentations, legislative advocacy, and capturing data in support of community projects—all during a global pandemic.
“We know our graduates will carry forward the best of their CUNY Law and INRC education by bringing their sharp legal skills, a critical approach to immigration law and policy, as well as their lived experience to their client representation over the course of the two-year fellowship. Cristal, Jennifer, Karla, Liora, and Olivia are the exact kinds of advocates the immigration field desperately needs right now as the push for transformative change deepens.”
-Professor Talia Peleg ’10, Co-Director of the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic
Jennifer Acevedo ’21, Brooklyn Defender Services
Read Jennifer’s IJC bio and profile
Jennifer Acevedo, Class of 2021, Jennifer.acevedo@live.law.cuny.edu, www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-acevedo
Before law school, I worked with Make the Road New York and the Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House providing a range of immigration services. As a legal intern with Safe Passage Project, I helped unaccompanied minors obtain asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
In the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic at CUNY Law, I worked on a Second Circuit appeal, which sought to reopen our client’s case.
As an IJC Fellow at Brooklyn Defender Services, I will secure permanent forms of immigration relief for clients through a multidisciplinary approach.
Cristal Enriquez ’21, Safe Passage Project
Read Cristal’s IJC bio and profile
Cristal Enriquez, Class 2021, Cristal.enriquez@live.law.cuny.edu
While attending CUNY Law, I interned at the Legal Aid Society, UnLocal, and Brooklyn Defender Services and was a student attorney in the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic. As an IJC Fellow at the Safe Passage Project, I will provide legal representation to undocumented immigrant children who face deportation.
Liora Cohen-Fraade ’21, RAICES
Read Liora’s IJC bio and profile
Liora Cohen-Fraade, Class of 2021,
liora.cohen-fraade@live.law.cuny.edu
After working with pro se individuals detained in Maryland and Virginia at CAIR Coalition, in Washington, D.C., I decided to attend law school to continue to work with those impacted by the immigration enforcement system and to push back against the criminalization of immigrants.
While at CUNY School of Law, I interned at the Vermont Office of the Defender General, UnLocal, and Brooklyn Defender Services. I was also a student attorney in the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic, where I worked with individuals filing affirmative applications. As an IJC Fellow at RAICES, I will provide representation to adults detained and in removal proceedings.
Karla Hernandez ’21, Neighborhood Defender Services
Read Karla’s IJC bio and profile
Karla Hernandez, class of ’21,
karla.hernandez@live.law.cuny.edu
As a former IJC Community Fellow, I provided legal services to immigrant communities in Staten Island, the South Bronx, and Harlem, which inspired me to attend law school.
As a law student, I helped represent an INRC client before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and I interned at the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Bronx Defenders’ immigration and impact litigation practices.
As a Justice Fellow, I will be working at Neighborhood Defender Services, where I will provide affirmative and defensive services.
Olivia Page-Pollard ’21, Safe Horizon
Read Olivia’s IJC bio and profile
Olivia Page-Pollard, Class of 2021, olivia.page-pollard@live.law.cuny.edu
I dedicated my career before law school to working with unaccompanied minors at the south Texas border and in New York City.
At CUNY Law, I was president of the Foundation for Immigrant and Refugee Empowerment (FIRE) and, as a member of the Immigrant and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic, represented an affirmative asylum seeker before the New York Asylum Office.
As an IJC Fellow at Safe Horizon, I will represent non-citizen survivors of intimate partner violence seeking immigration relief, both in the affirmative and defensive context.