Supervising Immigration Attorney (4–6-month position) 

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), a community-driven civil rights organization, seeks a Temporary Supervising Immigration Attorney to work with NYLPI’s Health Justice (HJ) program. The attorney will conduct immigration screenings and supervise and assist with NYLPI’s detained and non-detained clients, including people who are HIV-positive, have disabilities, and/or identify as LGBTQ. Knowledge of “Permanent Residence Under Color of Law” (PRUCOL) and experience with PRUCOL advocacy is also favored. This is a temporary position available for four to six months at 75% time, starting in January 2026.

NYLPI’s Health Justice work brings a racial equity and immigrant justice focus to health care advocacy in New York City and State. Our direct service work provides comprehensive immigration and health screenings, legal representation, and organ transplant advocacy to connect seriously ill undocumented immigrant New Yorkers to healthcare.

About the Role

• Supervised by the Director of Litigation and reporting to the Director of Health Justice who oversees the full scope of program strategy and operations, the primary role of the Temporary Supervising Immigration Attorney will be to provide direct supervision and mentorship to a small team in charge of direct service immigration work. The person will handle discrete immigration tasks that may arise for existing clients. The Temporary Supervising Immigration Attorney will be a subject-matter expert on immigration issues across detained and non-detained dockets, exercising professional legal judgement and offering input and guidance on impact, risks, and progress to advance individual cases. This attorney may contribute to the team’s emerging habeas practice to secure the release of detained clients. The incumbent will work both independently and in collaboration with others to advance the short and long-term systemic impact goals of NYLPI and the Health Justice Program. This is a temporary, parttime

position at 75% time (30 hours per week), with a duration of four to six months.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Supervision of HJ’s immigration legal work including direct supervision of one Immigration Staff Attorney who leads the TGNCI+ Project providing affirmative and defensive representation to people who are transgender, gender nonconforming and those living with HIV, and a Legal Fellow whose project focuses on representation and advocacy for people with mental disabilities in or at risk of ICE detention.
• In coordination with HJ’s Program Director, Advocacy Manager, and Intake Paralegal, provide immigration legal assessments on pathways to status and risk advisals; support staff in responding to intake calls and referrals; review preparation of immigration applications such as work permits and FOIA requests; and as needed, suggest updates to intake procedures and resources in response to changes in law, policy and enforcement priorities.
• Complete discrete immigration casework tasks that may arise for existing clients such as responding to Requests for Evidence or other time sensitive filings.
• Assist in preparation and work up of a small docket including defensive asylum cases for people with disabilities or serious health conditions.
• Timely and accurate tracking of client cases, progress of applications, and follow-up, within existing case management and grant reporting systems.
• Assist with habeas preparation and representation, limited to current clients who may be at risk of detention.
• Participate in team and organization wide meetings.
• Regularly meet with and update Program Director and Director of Litigation.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Attorney in good standing, licensed to practice law (any state, preferably New York).
• Ability to work in meaningful collaboration with a diverse range of clients and community partners, including elected and government agency officials;
• Ability to relate to and communicate effectively with a diverse group of clients, community partners, and staff, as well as nonprofit, government, judicial, and business communities.
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Excellent writing, editing, legal analysis, and oral presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
• Comfortable working under pressure, as part of a team, in a rapidly changing area of law.

Preferred

• 7+ years of experience providing immigration legal representation.
• Spanish language fluency.
• Previous nonprofit, legal services experience.
• Supervisory experience with consensus-oriented leadership style, excellent conflict-resolution skills, and empathic and open communication, or equivalent experience demonstrating outstanding skills in those areas.
• Experience representing people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ communities.
• Experience in preparing and litigating petitions for writs of habeas corpus
• Experience in or familiarity with the criminal legal system.
• Admission to the federal district courts of SDNY, EDNY, DNJ or others.
• Familiarity with PRUCOL eligibility for public benefits.

We are an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourage candidates fluent in multiple languages and candidates from historically oppressed groups to apply. We are committed to advancing social justice and civil rights in our advocacy, and we value the dynamism and perspective that staff diversity, equity, and inclusion bring to the work and culture of our organization. We strive to promote behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable us to work inclusively and effectively in cross-cultural situations with clients, co-workers, and community partners. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity and national origin; disability; socioeconomic background; sex, sexual orientation and gender identity; religion; political affiliation; or any other legally protected status. We actively recruit and seek to grow and maintain a diverse staff.

About NYLPI

For almost 50 years, NYLPI has been a leading civil rights advocate for New Yorkers marginalized by race, immigration status, poverty, neighborhood pollution, and disabilities. NYLPI pioneered the practice of community lawyering in the five boroughs of New York City. These communities shape our priorities, and their struggles for justice demand innovative solutions. Our interdisciplinary teams of advocates use every tool available – community organizing, impact litigation and individual representation, policy advocacy, media, pro bono partnerships, and public education – to solve seemingly intractable problems, develop leaders, and build collective power to achieve justice. We strive to create equal access to health care, achieve equality of opportunity and self-determination for people with disabilities, ensure immigrant opportunity, strengthen local nonprofits, and secure environmental justice for low-income communities of color. Our unique model of partnership with and support from the private bar provides opportunities across all of our program areas to maximize impact. To learn more about NYLPI, visit www.nylpi.org

English fluency required and Spanish fluency preferred.