John Jozkowski '19 Named 2019 Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow

03/01/2019

John Jozkowski ’19 has been selected as a two-year postgraduate Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) Fellow. He will provide legal assistance to immigrants fighting deportation and seeking lawful status and citizenship.

Inspired by Chief Judge Robert Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and launched in 2014, IJC is the nation’s first fellowship program wholly dedicated to meeting immigrants’ needs for high-quality legal assistance. The program places fellows with legal services organizations throughout New York City, where they receive comprehensive training in immigration law.

Judge Katzmann, who spoke at the Law School’s Convocation Ceremony last year, said the fellowship program “is having a transformative impact on the quality of legal representation for immigrants. Through their representation this remarkable incoming class of Fellows will aid all involved in the administration of justice—courts and litigants alike, and most deeply, immigrants and their families.”

Since starting law school, Jozkowski has worked with several organizations advocating for immigrants, including Lutheran Social Services, Safe Passage Project and New York Legal Assistance Group. As an IJC Fellow, he will be working at Safe Horizon to provide support and pursue immigration relief for victims of crime and abuse both in the United States and in their home countries.

“Immigrant Justice Corps represents the strength of the advocate community in New York and around the country,” said Jozkowski. “IJC is the perfect way for me, as a new lawyer, to access that community and help as many people as possible.”

This new class will join the 2018 class of 25 Justice Fellows already in the field. The Fellows will serve for two years at top legal services agencies across the country. Host organizations are located in and around New York City and New York State, and in Connecticut, Texas, Florida, Virginia and Maryland, as well as two new states, California and Nevada.