By Pilar Rivera
Jennifer Anzardo is a Senior Immigration Attorney at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC). Originally from Florida, Jennifer graduated from New York Law School in 2010 and is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
Jennifer entered law school with the intention of pursuing a career in entertainment law. Seeking to build up her resume, Jennifer decided to put her Spanish skills to good use by volunteering as an interpreter with Safe Passage. Through this experience Jennifer, began developing an interest for immigration law and registered for the Advanced Immigration Law seminar with Professor Lindsay Curcio. Professor Curcio kept in mind Jennifer’s initial interest in entertainment law and placed Jennifer in an internship at a law firm that handled non-immigrant visas for clients in the entertainment business. However, by this time, Jennifer’s interest for immigration law had developed into a passion, and once her internship was over, it was clear to Jennifer that she would be dedicating her professional career exclusively to immigration law.
Prior to joining NMIC, Jennifer was a volunteer attorney at The Door and then a Staff Attorney with Sanctuary for Families for over three (3) years. Her experience at both organizations has helped transform her into a seasoned expert in the field. Jennifer is currently working with pro bono counsel from Davis Polk & Wardwell on an appeal from a denial of a motion for a Special Findings Order, in an Order of Protection proceeding in the Brooklyn Family Court. The first week of December, oral arguments for the case were heard before the Appellate Division in the Second Judicial Department in New York, where Jennifer’s team argued that an order of protection satisfies the dependency element in a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) case. If the Appellate Division decides to rule in their favor, the decision may lay the groundwork for a possible precedent-setting decision which would open more doors in Family Court for foreign-born child victims of domestic and familial violence to pursue SIJS.
Despite the many approvals she has achieved on her cases, Jennifer says that the most rewarding part of her job is hearing her clients’ success stories many months and even years after their cases have been completed.
Even though she has very full caseload, Jennifer has remained a valuable Safe Passage volunteer attorney. She has successfully completed approximately ten (10) Safe Passage cases in the four years since her graduation. When she is not practicing law, Jennifer keeps busy planning her wedding and will soon be jetting off with her husband on a well-deserved honeymoon in Bali.