Immigration Staff Attorney

Job Announcement

Immigration Attorney

Position: Immigration Attorney

Program: Deportation Defense and Legal Advocacy Program

Compensation: $80,000. Full time equivalent.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, life insurance, flexible spending account, commuter benefits, paid holiday, paid sick leave, generous vacation with Summer Recess and Winter Recess, and 401(K) with employer matching.

Schedule: M-F 9:30-5:30PM (flexible), Exempt Position

To apply: Please visit https://dscs.isolvedhire.com/jobs/ and submit cover letter, resume, three references, and a writing sample.

Deadline: Immediately interviewing on a rolling basis until position is filled.

About the Organization:

Mission Action nurtures individual wellness and cultivates collective power among low-income and immigrant communities to create a more just society. As a multi-issue, multi-strategy organization, we work to improve lives on an individual level while also affecting broader social change through advocacy and community organizing. We work together across programs to address housing instability and support immigrant rights in order to meet the complex needs of our communities and collectively address the root causes of suffering and injustice. To learn more about our organization's model and impact, we encourage you to watch the following video.

Since 2008, Mission Action's Deportation DefenseLegal Advocacy Program has been a local leader in providing pro bono legal defense for individuals and families facing deportation. We use creative legal and advocacy strategies to challenge prolonged detention, constitutional violations, and other injustices in the immigration legal system through direct services, appeals, impact litigation, and public advocacy. We represent individuals threatened with deportation by challenging removability, and through applications for relief, including asylum, withholding of removal, relief under the Convention Against Torture, waivers of inadmissibility and deportability, and applications for U-visa, T-Visa, and VAWA relief. We strive to connect our individual casework to broader movements for immigrants' rights, racial justice, and abolition and to be guided by the communities we work alongside. We are a caring and supportive team that values sustainability and wellness in this challenging work.

Position Summary:

Mission Action seeks a full-time immigration attorney to represent and provide legal assistance to low-income community members facing removal.

Responsibilities include:

• Conduct intakes with potential clients, screen for claims for relief, and provide legal counsel and advice.
• Provide full-scope representation to individuals facing removal before the Immigration Court, the U.S. CitizenshipImmigration Services (USCIS), the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Stay informed of developments in agency practice, policy, and law.
• Participate in agency meetings, community activities, collaborative meetings, and trainings.
• Engage in outreach, education, and advocacy in the area of immigrant rights on the local and state level.
• Maintain and establish relationships with community partners and immigration service providers.
• Perform other programmatic tasks, as necessary.

Other Organizational Duties

• Conduct business in accordance with the Mission Action Employee Handbook, exercising sound judgment and serving the best interests of the agency and the community;
• Work within the framework of the agency's mission, vision, values, theory of change, and organization's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, restorative justice, trauma-informed work, and language justice;
• Commit yourself to treating each community member with respect and dignity;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor or equivalent and active bar admission.
• Experience practicing removal defense and direct services.
• Ability to communicate effectively with monolingual Spanish-speakers (i.e., advanced Spanish skills).
• Ability to work effectively and compassionately with survivors of trauma and clients with mental illness.
• Strong commitment to working with low-income and underserved communities, with an ability to relate to and communicate with a broad range of clients and colleagues.
• Demonstrated commitment to immigrant rights and community empowerment.
• Familiarity and demonstrated commitment to Mission Action mission, values, and organizational work.
• Strong organizational, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently to manage priorities and prioritize workflow.
• Strong computer knowledge, ability to use Adobe and Microsoft Office.
• Commitment to providing culturally humble services.

Mission Action is an equal-opportunity employer that values lived experience and seeks applicants of the greatest diversity possible. We encourage people of color, women, older people, members of the LGBTQ community, immigrants and those impacted by DSCS's work, individuals with disabilities, including HIV, and community members who grew up in the Mission District, to apply. Pursuant to the SF Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.