Fragomen Welcomes Latest Fragomen Fellow At The City Bar Justice Center

 Fragomen, the world’s leading provider of immigration services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Caitlin Miner-Le Grand as the firm’s latest “Fragomen Fellow” effective September 25, 2017. The Fragomen Fellowship, established more than a decade ago, is a two-year rotating position the firm’s New York office established to enhance the pro bono immigration services provided by the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association. 

Ms. Miner-Le Grand will focus on advocacy to enhance the access to and quality of counsel for immigrants in New York. To this end, she will be responsible for training and mentoring pro bono lawyers. In addition, she will continue the critical community education and outreach activities that previous Fragomen Fellows spearheaded. 

Ms. Miner-Le Grand replaces former Fragomen Fellow Danny Alicea, who has joined the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office in the newly-created position of Special Counsel for Immigration. In this position, Mr. Alicea is responsible for creating procedures and training in furtherance of a new internal policy directing all ADAs to factor in a person’s immigration status and any potential immigration-related collateral consequences when considering potential plea offers.

Lisa Koenig, a member of the Board of the City Bar Fund and a Partner at Fragomen who supervises the Fragomen Fellow, said “Caitlin’s selection as our firm’s new Fellow at the City Bar Justice Center, along with the firm’s many other partnerships with nonprofit immigrant advocacy organizations around the United States and around the world, helps to solidify the firm’s commitment to providing pro bono legal services to low-income immigrants.”

Ms. Miner-Le Grand comes to this position after having been embedded at the City Bar Justice Center for three years as an Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) Fellow. In this position, she provided direct representation to low-income immigrants applying for various forms of immigration relief, including asylum, U nonimmigrant status for victims of crime, T nonimmigrant status for survivors of labor and sex trafficking, self-petitions under the Violence Against Women’s Act for abused spouses and children, and Special Immigrant Juvenile status for eligible immigrant youth. She also represented clients in immigration court, performed Know Your Rights presentations for community groups, and assisted in pro bono clinics.

While in law school, Ms. Miner-Le Grand was a Legal Intern with New Haven Public Defenders in New Haven, CT, and with Earthjustice in New York City. She also spent one year in Yale Law School’s Veterans’Legal Services Clinic. In addition, she was the Co-Director of the law school’s Green Haven Prison Project; Public Interest Coordinator of the Initiative for Public Interest Law; involved in Food Policy Programming for the Yale Environmental Law Association; a member of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project; and worked on the Yale Journal of International Law. She also participated in a four-week summer exchange program with Argentine law students. Prior to becoming an IJC Fellow, Ms. Miner-Le Grand had a one-year federal clerkship with Magistrate Judge James Francis IV of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Miner-Le Grand earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2013, and her B.A., magna cum laude, in Journalism and Spanish-American Literature from New York University, College of Arts and Sciences, in 2006.  While at NYU, Ms. Miner-Le Grand earned High Honors in the Spanish Department; the Top Print Award from the Journalism Department; and a Certificate in Nongovernmental Organizations from the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.  She also participated in international study programs in Havana, Cuba and Santiago, Chile. Ms. Miner-Le Grand is fluent in Spanish.

“Caitlin’s experience as an Immigrant Justice Fellow at the City Bar Justice Center puts her in an excellent position to take on the additional responsibilities of the Fragomen Fellow,” said Lynn Kelly, Executive Director of the City Bar Justice Center. “Caitlin is extremely enthusiastic about ensuring that low-income immigrants have access to legal representation, and she is thus an ideal match for this very important service provided by the City Bar Justice Center.”

Austin Fragomen, Chairman of Fragomen’s Executive Committee and former Chairman of the Board of the City Bar Fund, said, “We are pleased to continue to sponsor a full-time Fellow at the City Bar Justice Center to support pro bono immigration work. Our partnership with the City Bar is very important to the firm. We feel that it makes a real difference to those in need.”