Our People
Safe Passage is a young organization with an entrepreneurial culture and deep appreciation for diverse backgrounds.
Lauren Blodgett
Staff Attorney
Lauren Blodgett
Staff Attorney
Lauren is a Staff Attorney who provides legal representation to immigrant youth, with a particular focus on survivors of gender-based violence. Lauren joined the Safe Passage Project team in the fall of 2016 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by BNY Mellon and Paul, Weiss. Lauren is the co-founder of Las Mariposas (the butterflies), the girls empowerment group here at Safe Passage Project. Lauren believes that all children have the right to thrive, learn, and belong, regardless of what they have been through or where they were born. She strives to make this a reality through her legal work and community engagement.
Lauren was recently honored on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Law and Policy and was quoted in the New York Times regarding the challenges that immigration attorneys face during the Trump administration. Lauren graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served on the board of the Harvard Immigration Project and the Harvard African Law Association. During law school, Lauren worked in non-profits in Morocco, Thailand, Jordan, Tanzania and Cambodia on various human rights issues, with a particular focus on refugee rights and children’s rights. Before law school, Lauren spent a year as a Fulbright scholar in Innsbruck, Austria, and worked at a refugee center in Cape Town, South Africa. Lauren graduated summa cum laude from Boston College in 2011 with a double major in Political Science and German. When not in the courtroom, Lauren can be found going for a run in Prospect Park or on the dance floor at Daybreaker, an early morning sober dance rave hosted at locations throughout New York City.
Cynthia Caballero
Staff Attorney
Cynthia Caballero
Staff Attorney
Cynthia Caballero joined Safe Passage Project in the spring of 2018 as a Staff Attorney. Upon graduating with her law degree, a culmination of her personal experiences, education and professional specializations paved a path for her to serve and protect children. Cynthia‘s interest in immigration stems from the desire to utilize the nation’s current laws to protect children from abuse, neglect, destitution and/or persecution.
Prior to joining Safe Passage Project, Cynthia worked at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services for three years. While at ACS, she gained extensive litigation experience, appearing daily in Queens Family Court and fighting to better the lives of children. While attending St John’s University School of Law, Cynthia worked at the Child Advocacy Clinic for two years where she represented children in Special Immigrant Juvenile cases. Cynthia also interned for the Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Practice and Criminal Defense Division.
Cynthia received her J.D. from St. John’s University, School of Law in 2014 and her B.A. in Political Science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2011. Cynthia is a member of the New York City Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Vanessa Castro-Mora
Social Worker
Vanessa Castro-Mora
Social Worker
Vanessa Castro-Mora is a social worker at Safe Passage Project. Raised by parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico, Vanessa witnessed her family’s daily struggles in an unfamiliar country which has led her to zealously address micro and macro-level systems that disparately and systemically place unjust treatment on vulnerable communities.
Prior to joining Safe Passage Project in 2018, Vanessa interned with Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation’s Domestic Violence Project and Brooklyn Defender Services’ Immigration Practice. At Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, Vanessa addressed the pervasive multi-dimensional and systemic impact of intimate partner violence experienced within Latinx communities. Within this role she found value and strength in advocating for and empowering survivors of intimate partner violence. At Brooklyn Defenders Services, Vanessa advocated for immigrant youth in contact with the complex immigration system. The experience of working with immigrant communities has presented itself with critical challenges that inspire Vanessa to further examine and address the institutional barriers immigrant communities face.
Vanessa is a first generation college graduate. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Human Services from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2016 and received her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University School of Social Work in 2018. Vanessa is excited to be a part of a team committed to social and immigration justice at Safe Passage Project!
Jazmin Karolina Chavez
Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Jazmin Karolina Chavez
Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Jazmin Karolina Chavez joined Safe Passage Project as an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow. Jazmin particularly enjoys working with immigrant children because she believes that her personal experience as a child immigrant from Peru to the U.S. helps her connect and communicate effectively with them.
Jazmin’s desire to be an immigration attorney stems from her childhood. When she was 11 years old, her parents decided to leave their home country of Peru in pursuit of safety and more abundant opportunities in the United States. Jazmin’s experiences taught her firsthand that immigrant matters are long, complex, and frustrating — and that this is further compounded when one lacks money, language skills, and adequate legal representation. Jazmin’s family was fortunate to have excellent legal assistance, and without it, they would likely be undocumented.
Before joining the Safe Passage Project team, Jazmin interned at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, ABA Commission on Immigration, Office of Immigration Litigation-District Court Section at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, and The Legal Aid Society. She also participated in the Women and the Law Clinic at American University.
Jazmin received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law in 2017 and her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012.
Rex Chen
Managing Attorney
Rex Chen
Managing Attorney
Rex Chen is a Managing Attorney who focuses on Long Island children’s cases.
Rex is nationally recognized for termination and suppression motions in immigration court to challenge government misconduct, and co-wrote a 2015 Vera Institute advisory about it. Rex was co-counsel on a 2018 habeas petition to defend several forcibly-separated children in New York. Before joining Safe Passage Project, Rex directed the immigration program at Catholic Charities of Newark and won a precedential Third Circuit appeal involving the interplay between a United Nations Convention and immigration law. Before Catholic Charities, he worked at a NYC law firm and clerked for the New Jersey Supreme Court.
He runs a joint defense group about suppression motions and is a Board member of the National Immigration Project. Rex is Taiwanese-American, speaks Spanish, made a documentary video about an immigrant wrongly convicted of murder, and enjoys watching fútbol on television.
Kathryn Chmielewski
Communications and Partnerships Associate
Kathryn Chmielewski
Communications and Partnerships Associate
As Communications & Partnerships Associate, Katie helps coordinate Safe Passage Project’s volunteer attorney program, leads the organization’s communications, and supports day-to-day operations.
Before joining the Safe Passage Project team, Katie advocated for LGBTQ-owned businesses at the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, where she helped LGBTQ business owners gain equal access to contracting opportunities. Previously she worked at the League of Women Voters as a communications assistant, where she managed social media platforms and developed communications toolkits and #GetOutTheVote campaigns for local Leagues leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Katie’s first involvement in immigration work was as an Americorps volunteer working with immigrant families in transitional housing in Washington, D.C. In this role, she led an after school program and food program for the families, in addition to providing comprehensive case management. Katie believes in doing her small part to try to stamp out oppression in all its forms.
Katie holds a BA in history and French language with minors in women’s studies and global studies from Marist College.
Tania Cohen
Senior Staff Attorney
Tania Cohen
Senior Staff Attorney
Tania joined Safe Passage in the Spring of 2017 as a Staff Attorney. Tania received a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2011 and a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University in 2006. During law school, Tania was an editor of the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy and a clinical student at the Brennan Center, where she researched the status of language access in federal court. After law school, she worked at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as a litigation associate and at Chaffetz Lindsey, where she primarily worked on international arbitration matters. Since graduating from law school, Tania has worked as a pro bono attorney on immigration matters, including as a volunteer attorney with Safe Passage. She is also a volunteer with CUNY Citizenship NOW!, where she provides citizenship application assistance. Tania is excited to be a part of the Safe Passage team!
Denise Feliciano
Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Denise Feliciano
Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Denise Feliciano received her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law.
She is joining Safe Passage Project as an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at a time when advocates are struggling to provide access to justice to unaccompanied minor children and adults with children fleeing violence in their home countries.
As an intern at Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services and at the Safe Center Long Island, Denise volunteered to work with unaccompanied minors and women who had suffered domestic abuse. Denise was also a student attorney with the St. John’s Immigrant and Refugee Rights Litigation Clinic, where she worked on family court petitions and asylum applications on behalf of unaccompanied minors fleeing from domestic and gang violence. Denise has also traveled to Texas to assist immigrant women and children detained at Karnes County Detention Center. Denise is excited and proud to be a part of the Safe Passage Project team.
Stephanie Gibbs
Supervising Attorney
Stephanie Gibbs
Supervising Attorney
Stephanie Gibbs is a Supervising Attorney who works with immigrant youth to secure humanitarian protections and legal status in the United States. Stephanie knows that the mission of Safe Passage Project is transformative in these young people's lives.
Stephanie has been advocating on behalf of immigrants for nearly a decade. She has dedicated her career to immigration practice, including representation in removal defense, humanitarian claims such as asylum and family based visa petitions, and immigration counsel in criminal proceedings.
Stephanie is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She holds a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.A. in Political Science and French Language and Literature from Colorado State University.
Alexandra Grant
Senior Staff Attorney
Alexandra Grant
Senior Staff Attorney
Alex joined Safe Passage Project as a Senior Staff Attorney in January 2019. Prior to joining Safe Passage Project, she represented detained and released immigrant youth in removal proceedings as a staff attorney in the Unaccompanied Minors Program at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. Before that, she represented labor and sex trafficking survivors in their immigration matters and interactions with the criminal justice system as a Columbia Postgraduate Social Justice Fellow in the Anti-Trafficking Program at Safe Horizon. Alex received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2013 and her B.A. in Humanities from Yale University in 2006. During law school, she was an articles editor of the Columbia Journal of Race and Law and interned for the Legal Aid Society’s Immigration Law Unit, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the Domestic Violence Bureau of the Queens District Attorney’s office, and SEPA Mujer, a community-based organization serving immigrant survivors of domestic violence. Alex is passionate about fighting for the rights of migrants and survivors of all forms of oppression.
Tim Greenberg
Staff Attorney
Tim Greenberg
Staff Attorney
Tim Greenberg is a Staff Attorney on Safe Passage Project’s Long Island team. Tim defends and advocates for children who the United States Government wants to deny basic human rights and needlessly deport from the United States. Tim believes that no walls should impede the movement of people.
Some notable victories during his time at Safe Passage Project include the order of release of one child from a wrongful six month detention based on unfounded gang affiliation allegations made by the United States Government, and a grant of asylum for a family of four who collectively had been shot six times by the 18th Street Gang. Tim was in inspired to join the team by Safe Passage Project founder Lenni Benson in 2015. He served as a legal intern, clinic student, and New York Law School Immigration Law Department research assistant before finally joining the full time staff in 2017. During this time, Tim’s legal note, “The United States is Unwilling to Protect Gang-Based Asylum Applicants,” was published by the New York Law School Law Review. Previously Tim worked at Non-Violence International, Human Rights First, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the Asociación por los Derechos Civiles in Buenos Aires, and the New York State Supreme Court.
Tim received a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.A. from Fordham University.
Desireé Hernández
Deputy Executive Director & Legal Director
Desireé Hernández
Deputy Executive Director & Legal Director
A 2008 graduate of New York Law School, Desireé C. Hernández is an experienced immigration attorney. Prior to joining the Safe Passage Project, she was an Associate Attorney at the Law Offices of Jan Allen Reiner, where she successfully represented clients in all aspects of immigration law with a particular emphasis on complex litigation before USCIS, the EOIR Immigration Court, the BIA and the U.S. Court, Eastern District of New York and a volunteer attorney for Safe Passage. During law school, Ms. Hernández founded and was the President of NYLS’s Immigration Law Student Association (ILSA), and organized NYLS’s Immigration Awareness Month in March 2007. As a law student, Ms. Hernández interned at Her Justice (formerly inMotion), the New York Association for New Americans, and Garganigo, Goldsmith and Weiss. She was the recipient of the Public Interest Service Certificate Award, the Abbey Fellow in Poverty Law and the Joseph Solomon Public Interest Fellow. Ms. Hernández has a B.A. in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico. She is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey. Ms. Hernandez is fluent in Spanish.
Victoria Hernandez
Case Manager
Victoria Hernandez
Case Manager
Victoria joined Safe Passage Project as a Case Manager in the winter of 2018. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Honduras and was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Victoria’s parents and some of her younger cousins who came from Honduras to the United States (U.S.) as unaccompanied minors inspired her to focus her studies on the transnational experiences of immigrants and to be an advocate for marginalized communities. In May 2018, Victoria earned an M.A. in International Educational Development with a concentration in Latin American and Latinx Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Victoria wrote her M.A. thesis on the challenges faced and approaches implemented by professionals working with newly-arrived migrant youth from the Northern Triangle of Central America (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala) in the U.S.
During her time as a graduate student, Victoria was an Intake Counselor at The Door, a multi-service youth development agency. She is a first-generation college graduate, a Gates Millennium Scholar, and holds a B.A. in International Development Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she also minored in Education and Chicanx Studies. Victoria is excited to be part of the Safe Passage Project team because of our commitment to humanizing the experiences of immigrants and refugees.
Alexander Holtzman
Staff Attorney
Alexander Holtzman
Staff Attorney
Alex Holtzman is a staff attorney with Safe Passage Project who directly represents immigrant children in removal proceedings and mentors Safe Passage Project pro bono attorneys. His caseload consists of primarily asylum and special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS). Alex began his work with Safe Passage Project as a Justice Fellow with Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC), and he remains on IJC's Advisory Committee.
Alex’s interest in immigration stems from his mother’s emigration from Serbia, and his time living abroad in Ecuador. Alex’s immigration law experience began at Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan, where he visited over a hundred migrant camps to document housing, health, and civil rights violations. He then worked for three years as a senior community organizer in Columbus, Ohio. Alex’s immigration and civil rights experience includes his work with the Columbus NAACP, USCIS in the Office of the Chief Counsel, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and the publication of several law review articles on immigration reform.
Alex Holtzman received a J.D. from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and an M.A. in Public Policy from The Ohio State University John Glenn School of Public Policy.
Nicole Johnson
Senior Staff Attorney
Nicole Johnson
Senior Staff Attorney
Nicole Johnson joined Safe Passage Project as a Senior Staff Attorney in September 2018. Prior to coming to Safe Passage Project, she was a Senior Staff Attorney with the Immigration Intervention Project of Sanctuary for Families at the Bronx Family Justice Center, representing victims of gender based violence in a variety of immigration matters including U Nonimmigrant visa Petitions and VAWA Self-Petitions before USCIS, Asylums applications both at the Asylum office and before the Immigration Court. Before joining Sanctuary for Families, she was an Associate attorney at Salmen Navarro Law. There she represented clients before the Immigration Court in a number of applications including Asylum, Cancellation of Removal, Provisional Waivers of Unlawful Presences, and other waivers of inadmissibility.
She was born and raised in Southern California. She received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Mills College in Oakland, California. Her passion for travel and helping others led her to join the Peace Corps where she was a Youth Development Volunteer in Peru from 2006-2008. She returned from Peru with a dedication to international human rights and received her J.D from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 2012. While in law school, Nicole was very committed to public interest work. She was a Kinoy-Stavis Public Interest Fellow, helping to lead the Rutgers Newark Community in Public Interest. She was also a Deborah T. Portiz Public Interest Law Fellow at Legal Services of New Jersey. She worked in the Constitutional Litigation Clinic and assisted in the organization of the newly formed Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Rutgers. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, baking, crafting and traveling.
Jennifer Katzman
Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Jennifer Katzman
Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Jennifer is a Staff Attorney and Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow who works directly with young people to help them apply for immigration status. Jennifer is grateful to support the work of Safe Passage Project. She knows that it is incredibly difficult to navigate the U.S.'s complex immigration system and believes that young people deserve competent representation.
Before law school Jennifer worked for four years assisting with family law and immigration cases for survivors of domestic violence. During law school she participated in the Family Law Practice Clinic, CUNY Law Review, the Courtroom Advocates Project, and the International Refugee Assistance Project. She interned with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, The Door, and the Legal Aid Society in the New York Immigrant and Family Unity Project.
Jennifer holds a J.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law.
Amy Krikava
Development and Communications Associate
Amy Krikava
Development and Communications Associate
Amy joins the Safe Passage Project team as the new Development and Communications Associate. She graduated with honors from New York University with a degree in Political Science, Anthropology and Human Rights, as well as a minor in Social and Public Policy. She has spent her academic and professional career advocating for the rights of vulnerable people. She started in development as an intern at The Human Trafficking Legal Center where she experienced first-hand how important professional legal representation is for people whose basic human rights are being denied. Throughout school, she taught weekly health classes to high school students in the Bronx, conducted a semester long action civics class at the Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports, and mentored Bronx high schoolers through their college application process. She previously lived abroad studying genocide and human rights violations across South and Central America where she worked with La Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia, defending the rights of different communities and people living in the barrios.
Rich Leimsider
Executive Director
Rich Leimsider
Executive Director
Rich Leimsider is the Executive Director of Safe Passage Project. Safe Passage Project is a nonprofit organization that provides free lawyers to poor immigrant children in the NYC-area. These children face deportation to often life-threatening situations, despite having a strong legal claim to stay in the United States. Safe Passage Project currently supports 700+ children each year with 22 full-time staff and the help of 400+ pro bono attorneys. Safe Passage Project is hosted at New York Law School, and supported by the City of New York, the Robin Hood Foundation, AmeriCorps, and many generous private donors.
Previously, Rich was an independent consultant, advising on issues of strategy, fundraising, board engagement, and program design to organizations ranging from NYC-based human service agencies to startup global social enterprises to philanthropic foundations.
As the Vice President of Fellowship Programs at Echoing Green from 2010 to 2015 he grew a team of two to a team of 10, raised $15 million in new funding, and designed, launched and managed new programs on Climate Change and Black Male Achievement. Earlier, at The Aspen Institute, Rich was the Founding Director of the Center for Business Education. His path was shaped by early experiences as a social worker in Texas serving high-school dropouts and men on probation and parole, and as a New York City Urban Fellow where his responsibilities included oiling a drainpipe at a homeless shelter so that drug dealers could not climb up.
Rich currently serves as a board member of the West African agricultural finance organization myAgro, and as an advisory board member of AshokaU and Arbor Brothers. Rich was a co-author of two editions of The Sustainable MBA, the first-ever MBA guidebook from a socially responsible perspective and a co-author of the Aspen Principles for Long-Term Value Creation which offers guidance for corporations and institutional investors. His most recent piece at the Harvard Business Review is “Five Bad Reasons to Start a For-Profit Social Enterprise.”
Rich is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and other NYC public schools, received his BA from Williams College, his MBA from Harvard Business School, and made it most of the way through an MSW at the University of Texas. He is trying to learn Spanish, but rapidly losing proficiency in French and fluency in Mandarin.
When he’s not working with Safe Passage Project you can find him at a park in Brooklyn with his wife Hannah, a pediatrician, and their children Frank and Josie.
Lesly R. Linares
Paralegal
Lesly R. Linares
Paralegal
Lesly is a Brooklyn College senior, majoring in Leadership and Human Resources, she is expected to graduate in June, 2019. Lesly is the product of Salvadorian parents, both of whom came to the United States with intentions to live a better life. Lesly has worked in the education field as a Case Manager for many years, advocating for children and teachers alike. She has now found a passion for the legal field and plans to apply for law school after completing her Bachelor’s degree. Lesly also consults on small businesses who are owned by former immigrants, facilitating the development of employee rights to the operations management understanding and ensuring that the business works ethically and morally for the community, employee and owner. Lesly believes in giving back to the community in any way she possibly can. She is grateful for the opportunity given to her by her parent’s migration and believes strongly in the support Safe Passage Project is giving to children like her.
Michelle López
Operations Assistant
Michelle López
Operations Assistant
Michelle López joined Safe Passage Project as an Operations Assistant for the Legal Department in October of 2018. She is a first-generation Mexican American college graduate from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she earned her Bachelors Degree as a double major in Economics and Latin American/Latino Studies.
Prior to joining Safe Passage Project, Michelle worked alongside faculty from the Ibero-American University of Mexico City as a transnational data collector where she contributed to a report on the living conditions of Mexican migrants living in New York City. Michelle also worked as a research assistant for former International Human Rights Attorney, Jose Luis Morin, where she conducted extensive research on issues plaguing Latino communities in the United States. Most recently, Michelle helped co-lead the Rossana Rosado Fellows Program as program coordinator where she supported first-generation, low-income college students.
Michelle is excited to continue advocating for marginalized communities and to be part of the Safe Passage Project team!
Wayne Massey
Senior Staff Attorney
Wayne Massey
Senior Staff Attorney
Wayne S. Massey is a Senior Staff Attorney at Safe Passage Project. He works principally with Safe Passage’s pro bono partners, providing mentorship, resources, and other support to volunteer attorneys representing poor immigrant children in the New York City area. Wayne believes that every immigrant should have a full and fair opportunity to pursue the immigration benefits and relief available under U.S. law, which often begins and ends with access to competent legal counsel.
Prior to joining Safe Passage Project, Wayne was an associate attorney at a boutique immigration law firm in New York City, where his practice encompassed a broad range of immigration matters, including representation of clients seeking family benefits, citizenship, asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief, relief from removal or deportation, waivers of grounds of inadmissibility and orders of removal, and prosecutorial discretion. He frequently represented clients with complex histories involving, among other things, criminal charges and/or convictions, immigration fraud, unlawful or irregular entries, unlawful presence, judicial and administrative orders of removal, and appeals of unfavorable decisions to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and Administrative Appeals Office (AAO).
Wayne earned his LL.M (Masters in Law) from the Fordham University School of Law (International Law & Justice Program) and his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, where he was on the staff of the Public Contract Law Journal. He also earned a B.A. in Mathematics and a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania prior to law school.
Alexandra McCown
Staff Attorney
Alexandra McCown
Staff Attorney
Alexandra (Alix) joined Safe Passage Project in the Fall of 2018 as a Staff Attorney. Alexandra received a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2011, an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 2004, and an A.B. in Political Science from Stanford University in 2000. During law school, Alexandra was a notes editor of the Journal of International Law and Politics and worked in the Immigration Unit of the Legal Aid Society as part of the Immigration Defense Clinic at NYU. After law school, Alexandra worked at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as a litigation associate where she worked primarily on a variety of complex commercial litigation and enforcement matters and also worked on several immigration pro bono matters. Alexandra is excited to be a part of the Safe Passage Project team!
Samantha Norris
Supervising Social Worker
Samantha Norris
Supervising Social Worker
Samantha Norris is the supervising social worker at Safe Passage Project. She works with the young people that Safe Passage serves by supporting them as they navigate both life in NYC and their legal case. She ensures that these youth are connected to various resources, including mental health services, educational programs, and health insurance enrollment, by collaborating with community-based organizations and city services. Samantha believes that an interdisciplinary approach of both legal and social work is key to ensuring successful legal outcomes and connecting youth to each other and their communities.
Prior to joining Safe Passage, Samantha was a social worker and high school soccer coach with South Bronx United. Samantha's passion for immigrant rights grew out of the relationships she developed with SBU youth and their families. Before moving to NYC, Samantha was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, where she worked with children, youth, and families in collaboration with a community-based organization while developing both Spanish and bachata skills.
Samantha is currently a licensed master social worker (LMSW) in New York State and holds a certificate in immigration law from the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Born and raised in Chicago, Samantha received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.
Bethany Ow
Senior Attorney
Bethany Ow
Senior Attorney
A 2009 graduate of New York Law School, Bethany is an experienced immigration attorney. Bethany first began working with the Safe Passage Project in July 2012 and helped to implement our successful pro bono mentorship program.
Prior to her work with Safe Passage, Bethany was employed with the Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review in Houston, Texas, where she gained valuable experience in the field by researching and drafting legal decisions on behalf of eight Immigration Court judges. She has published an academic article regarding federal court jurisdiction over citizenship cases and served as one of the principal research assistants on a published immigration law textbook. During her time at New York Law School, Bethany was an Articles Editor for the New York Law School Law Review, was active in the New York Law School Immigration Law Students Association, and was a student volunteer with Safe Passage Project. She was the recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for Proficiency in Constitutional Law.
Bethany is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is admitted to practice in New York. She has a B.A. in Spanish from Lawrence University. Bethany has studied in Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and is fluent in Spanish.
Elizabeth Rivera
Paralegal
Elizabeth Rivera
Paralegal
Elizabeth Rivera is a paralegal who works with immigrant children in New York City to help them obtain immigration relief. Elizabeth believes that every young person deserves to live in a stable, safe, and a free of violence environment. She has an interest in advocating for immigrant rights and social justice.
Elizabeth was part of the 2nd cohort of the City University of New York (CUNY) Service Corps 2014-2015. As a CUNY Service Corps member she interned for CUNY Citizenship NOW! at City Council Julissa Ferreras’s office and at the City College Immigration Center. Elizabeth was also part of the CUNY Citizenship NOW! Volunteer Corps, where she provided citizenship application assistance and has participated in the CUNY/Daily News Citizenship NOW! Call-in where information and referrals to immigration matters was provided. Elizabeth supported the nonprofit Galapagos Center for New Americans as a Special Projects Coordinator and was a legal assistant for the Law Office of Karla P. Rosero, PLLC. Elizabeth joined Safe Passage Project as a Justice AmeriCorps Paralegal in 2015 and joined full-time staff in December 2017.
Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society from John Jay of Criminal Justice.
Alexandra Rizio
Managing Attorney, Training and Partnerships
Alexandra Rizio
Managing Attorney, Training and Partnerships
A 2012 graduate of Fordham LawSchool and a 2006 graduateof Columbia University, Alexandra Rizio has a long history of advocating for the rights of migrants. Most recently, she served as an Associate Immigration Attorney at the firm Masliah & Soloway. Previously, Ms. Rizio coordinated a pro bono program at Start Small Think Big, an economic empowerment non-profit located in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. At Fordham Law, Ms. Rizio was a Stein Scholar in Public Interest and Ethics, a Crowley Scholar in International Human Rights, and a 2012 recipient of the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award. During law school, Ms. Rizio served as the Ellenbogen Fellow at HerJustice (formerly inMotion), as a Revson Fellow in the Family Law and Domestic Violence Unit of South Brooklyn Legal Services, and as an asylum intern at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. She was also a Leitner Fellow at MAP Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand; in that role, she researched labor violations and gender-based violence experienced by female Burmese migrant workers, and analyzed Thailand’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Prior to law school, Alexandra worked for the UN’s International Labor Organization in Bangkok, for the International Center for Transitional Justice in New York, and volunteered for the Refugee and Immigrant Fund in Queens.
James Steijger-Puretz
Head of Finance and Operations
James Steijger-Puretz
Head of Finance and Operations
James is the Head of Finance and Operations and works closely with the Executive Director to manage Safe Passage Project's finances, grants, human resources, operations, and more. James is committed to serving those less privileged, and is proud to be a part of Safe Passage Project.
Before immigrating to the United States, James taught social and political philosophy at Utrecht University. In the Netherlands, he worked with and advocated for marginalized and undocumented refugees from East Africa, primarily from Eritrea, Somalia and South-Sudan. He co-produced a documentary on rejected asylees in the Netherlands and their continuous struggle to pursue a safe and dignified life. James received a K.F. Hein Fonds scholarship for studies in development, poverty and global responsibility, and awards from the Fundatie van de Vrijvrouwe van Renswoude and Stichting Thomas More for his studies and research.
James graduated from Utrecht University and the University of California, Berkeley with a focus on social and political philosophy, human rights, inequality and poverty.
Cristina Trinidad
Paralegal
Cristina Trinidad
Paralegal
Cristina is originally from Puebla, Mexico. She is a first generation college graduate from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she earned a degree in Liberal Arts and Political Science, and a minor in Latin American Studies. Cristina is the co-founder of Mexican-American Youth Advising Students (MAYAS), where she promoted the importance of higher education among the Mexican community through leadership development activities, college-related activities, mentoring programs, and projects that emphasized civic commitment and education. Cristina has also been a volunteer with CUNY Citizenship NOW! Call-In, where she provided information to participants about their eligibility for legal benefits. Prior to joining Safe Passage Project she was a hair salon owner in Brooklyn, New York. She served as a ULAMP (Unaccompanied Latin American Minors Project) intern, which led to her Justice AmeriCorps Paralegal Fellowship. Cristina is beyond excited to be part of an amazing team!
Andrew Amer
Director
Andrew Amer
Director
Andrew Amer is Special Litigation Counsel in the Litigation Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, having recently transitioned into public service after a 30-year career as a litigator at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Mr. Amer’s current position involves defending the State and its various agencies in complex litigation often involving constitutional challenges to legislation and agency determinations. In private practice, he focused on the areas of insurance, reinsurance, bankruptcy, products liability and law firm defense, and he has extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Over the course of his career, he has also maintained an active pro bono docket, representing clients in connection with immigration proceedings, habeas petitions, human rights violations and criminal appeals. Mr. Amer is recognized by Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation as a leading lawyer nationwide in the area of insurance.
Joseph Bavuso
Director
Joseph Bavuso
Director
Joseph Bavuso is a member of the Zegar Family Foundation, and works to develop grants in several areas, including food access and hunger, immigration and civil rights, environmental science and advocacy, and civic participation. Mr. Bavuso is also an attorney, and was formerly a Senior Counsel at the New York City Law Department for many years, where he litigated eminent domain and real property tax matters.
Brenda Cooke
Director
Brenda Cooke
Director
Ms. Cooke is currently serving as Deputy General Counsel for New York City Department of Correction, where she represents the Department of Correction in legal activity concerning significant policy or financial consequences. In addition to responsibility for the management of approximately 60 members of the Department’s Legal Division, she litigates complex cases, drafts legislation and policy statements on behalf of the Department of Correction, and provides legal advice on legal strategy matters. She served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Robert C. Chambers from 2002-2003 in the U.S. District Court SDWV. From 2003-2011, she was a Senior Associate in the firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Ms. Cooke worked for the New York City Law Department as Assistant Corporation Counsel from 2011-2012 and Senior Counsel from 2012-2015. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Portland in 1999 with honors, and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 2002, where she graduated summa cum laude. She is admitted to practice in the State of New York, U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of the Second Circuit. Ms. Cooke has been serving as treasurer for 451 Clinton Owners Corp since 2006, and served as Board Chair for McBurney YMCA from 2008-2015. In December 2013, Ms. Cooke was awarded the Division Chief Award by the New York City Law Department, and in June 2014, she was awarded the Municipal Affairs Award from the New York City Bar Association.
Hon. Sam Coppersmith
Secretary
Hon. Sam Coppersmith
Secretary
Sam Coppersmith is a partner and co-founder of the firm Coppersmith Brockelman PLC in Phoenix, Arizona, where he provides legal expertise in the fields of business organization, corporate governance, exempt organizations, contract negotiation, land use, and business planning. Mr. Coppersmith also is a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the First District of Arizona in the 103rd Congress, and served as chair of the Arizona Democratic Party from 1995 to 1997 and led the Arizona delegation to the Democratic National Convention in 1996. Mr. Coppersmith also served as a board member and chair of Planned Parenthood of Arizona, and as a member and chair of the City of Phoenix Board of Adjustment. In 2005, he received the For Love of Justice Award from the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services for his volunteer work with numerous non-profit agencies, and has served as an international election monitor in Egypt, Ukraine, the Republic of Georgia, and Albania.
Pam Foster, Esq.
Chair
Pam Foster, Esq.
Chair
Pam Foster is a not-for-profit operations leader with more than 15 years of progressively responsible strategic and operations management experience. She currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Co-Impact. Prior to that, she was the Managing Director for Program Operations and Associate General Counsel at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, where she worked since 2003, previously serving as Managing Director for Grants Management. She has overseen the restructuring and streamlining of the grant management process, as well as producing and managing programmatic budgets, forecasts, budget monitoring, financial projections, cash flow management and more. She possesses well over a decade of experience in organizational management and restructuring, as well as in grant review and administration. From 2000-2003 she was an Associate in the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Trinity College in 1993 with honors, and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 2000, where she graduated summa cum laude from the evening division, which she attended while working full-time at The Rockefeller Foundation. She is a frequent presenter on philanthropic operations, and serves on a number of boards and committees in this area, including the finance committee of Philanthropy New York and the advisory board of NGOsource. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the New York Law School Alumni Association.
Caroline B. Kronley
Director
Caroline B. Kronley
Director
Caroline B. Kronley is the President of The Tinker Foundation, which provides grants to civil society organizations in Latin America. Previously, Caroline worked as the Managing Director for Strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation, leading the development of new programmatic initiatives. Earlier in her career, she was a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners as well as Booz & Company where she served a broad range of clients on strategy and organizational performance. Caroline worked for several years for a microfinance institution in Oaxaca, Mexico, engaging with rural communities experiencing high levels of migration. She holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Rich Leimsider
Executive Director
Rich Leimsider
Executive Director
Rich Leimsider is the Executive Director of Safe Passage Project. Safe Passage Project is a nonprofit organization that provides free lawyers to poor immigrant children in the NYC-area. These children face deportation to often life-threatening situations, despite having a strong legal claim to stay in the United States. Safe Passage Project currently supports 700+ children each year with 22 full-time staff and the help of 400+ pro bono attorneys. Safe Passage Project is hosted at New York Law School, and supported by the City of New York, the Robin Hood Foundation, AmeriCorps, and many generous private donors.
Previously, Rich was an independent consultant, advising on issues of strategy, fundraising, board engagement, and program design to organizations ranging from NYC-based human service agencies to startup global social enterprises to philanthropic foundations.
As the Vice President of Fellowship Programs at Echoing Green from 2010 to 2015 he grew a team of two to a team of 10, raised $15 million in new funding, and designed, launched and managed new programs on Climate Change and Black Male Achievement. Earlier, at The Aspen Institute, Rich was the Founding Director of the Center for Business Education. His path was shaped by early experiences as a social worker in Texas serving high-school dropouts and men on probation and parole, and as a New York City Urban Fellow where his responsibilities included oiling a drainpipe at a homeless shelter so that drug dealers could not climb up.
Rich currently serves as a board member of the West African agricultural finance organization myAgro, and as an advisory board member of AshokaU and Arbor Brothers. Rich was a co-author of two editions of The Sustainable MBA, the first-ever MBA guidebook from a socially responsible perspective and a co-author of the Aspen Principles for Long-Term Value Creation which offers guidance for corporations and institutional investors. His most recent piece at the Harvard Business Review is “Five Bad Reasons to Start a For-Profit Social Enterprise.”
Rich is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and other NYC public schools, received his BA from Williams College, his MBA from Harvard Business School, and made it most of the way through an MSW at the University of Texas. He is trying to learn Spanish, but rapidly losing proficiency in French and fluency in Mandarin.
When he’s not working with Safe Passage Project you can find him at a park in Brooklyn with his wife Hannah, a pediatrician, and their children Frank and Josie.
Raymond Y. Lin, Esq.
Director
Raymond Y. Lin, Esq.
Director
Raymond Y. Lin is a Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP. Mr. Lin’s work centers around the representation of private equity firms in mergers and acquisitions as well as in capital market transactions. Mr. Lin was a part of Latham & Watkin’s pro bono work for Not For Sale, a non-profit organization that works to protect people from human trafficking. He currently serves on the Board of Visitors of Columbia Law and is a Director of the Appleseed Foundation.
Antonio Miranda
Director
Antonio Miranda
Director
Mr. Miranda is a partner and Chief Investment Officer of Compass Group, a Latin American specialist investment management firm. Previously he held asset management and capital markets leadership roles with Mellon HBV, Unibanco, UBS and Citibank. Mr. Miranda has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica of Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from INSEAD, France.
Sam Newbold, Esq.
Director
Sam Newbold, Esq.
Director
Samuel Newbold is a Senior Associate Attorney at Barst Mukumal & Kleiner LLP, and works mainly on employment, family, and investment-based immigration matters. Mr. Newbold also has extensive experience representing clients in removal proceedings. Mr. Newbold has been involved in several non-profit organizations internationally in both volunteer and administrative capacities. He is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and regularly takes on Safe Passage pro bono cases.
Federico Reyes
Treasurer
Federico Reyes
Treasurer
Federico Reyes is currently VP of Financial Planning & Analysis for KIND Snacks. He was previously Corporate Controller for Heineken USA and has held roles in strategic planning, investor relations, corporate finance, and investment banking at FEMSA, BBVA Bancomer and Bear, Stearns. Mr. Reyes holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Careen Shannon, Esq.
Vice President
Careen Shannon, Esq.
Vice President
Careen Shannon is a Partner at Fragomen Worldwide, the world’s largest immigration law firm, where she also serves as the firm’s global Director of Communications. A frequent speaker and writer, Careen has spoken before numerous bar associations, professional organizations and human resources groups, and has written countless articles on immigration law topics for a variety of legal, human resources and mainstream publications. She has also written a number of scholarly articles published in U.S. law reviews. She is the co-author, with Austin T. Fragomen, Jr. and Daniel Montalvo, of a series of legal handbooks and treatises published by Thomson Reuters/West and the Practising Law Institute. For more than a decade (2004-2015), Careen was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she served as Director of the Immigration Law Field Clinic from 2011-2015. Careen plays a key role in Fragomen’s pro bono practice, and since 2014 has led the U.S. firm’s nationwide effort to provide pro bono legal services to unaccompanied minors and to detained immigrant women and children from Central America. She is a member of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel and the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals.
With the support of our pro bono attorneys, we are able to provide free lawyers to hundreds of immigrant children who would otherwise face the immigration process alone. Our pro bono attorneys come from the following law firms, organizations, and corporations.
African Services Committee
AIG
Amoachi and Johnson, PLLC
Archer Harvey & Smith, LLC
Baker & Hostetler LLP
Bank of America
Barclays
Barst Mukamal & Kleiner LLP
Bloomberg
BNY Mellon
Boghossian Law Office
Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP
BPA Law Group, PLLC
Bracewell, LLP
Brandes & Associates, LLC
Bronx Defenders
Brooklyn Defender Services
Brooklyn Legal Services
Cadwalader
Catholic Charities
Catholic Migration Services
Chaffetz Lindsey LLP
Chang Liu Law Group
Chubb
City Bar Justice Center
Claudia Slovinsky and Associates PLLC
Columbia Law School
Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman
CUNY Citizenship Now
CUNY Law
Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle
Davidson Law Group PC
De Castro Foden, LLC.
DLA Piper
Emery Celli Brinckenhoff & Abady LLP
FEINER AND LAVY PC
Foley & Lardner LLP
FOOKSMAN LAW FIRM, P.C
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
FRIEDMAN & ANSPACH
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP
Glass Krakower LLP
Goldman Sachs
Guggenheim Partners LLC
Heiferman & Associates, PLLC
HIAS
Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP
Hofsta University Law Clinic
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Kantor, Davidoff, Mandelker, Twomey, Gallanty & Kokhba, P.C.
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel
Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP
Latham & Watkins
Law Firm of Damian Vargas
Law Firm of Evan Zucker
Law Office of Arturo S. Suarez
Law Office of Brynde Berkowitz, P.C.
Law Office of Craig Relles
Law Office of Deana Balahtsis
Law Office of Defferrire-Duffy
Law Office of Devorah F. Beck
Law Office of Laurence Borten
Law Office of Lenworth Williams
Law Office of Maria Marai
Law Office of Marjorie Smith
Law Office of Matthew L. Guadagno
Law Office of Rebecca McCarthy
Law Office of Sharon Press
Law Office of Sophia Solovyova
Law Office of Theodore Cox
Law Offices of Anne Donnelly Bush
Law Offices of Bryan Johnson-Xenitelis
Law Offices of David M. Pyun
Law Offices of Donna M. Nebel
Law Offices of Edith Diaz, Esq.
Law Offices of Gail M. Walton
Law Offices of Gerald Karikari
LAW OFFICES OF IAN L. BLANT
Law Offices of Janet L. Porro, Esq.
Law Offices of Jansen & Ressler
Law Offices of Leo Fraser
Law Offices of Linda Kenepaske, PLLC
Law Offices of Prashanthi Reddy, PLLC
Law Offices of Thomas Lavin
Lawyers Alliance for New York
Legal Aid Society
Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County
Legal Services of the Hudson Valley
Lehach Filippa, LLP
Lennox Hill Neighborhood House
Leopold & Associates, PLLC
Limberis Law Firm, PLLC
LinkLaters LLP
Manhattan Legal Services
Messner Reeves LLP
Meyers & Meyers, LLP
MFY Legal Services
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & Mccloy LLP
Morgan Stanley
MSCI Inc.
MSG Networks
Nair Group
Neighborhood Legal Services
Neighbors Link Community Law Practice
Neil H Greenberg & Associates, P.C.
NYC Health + Hospitals
Park Jensen Bennett LLP
Pepper Hamilton LLP
Piekoff Mahan Law Office
Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP.
Proskauer
Raymond Schwartberg & Associates, PLCC
RCTOBINLAW, PLLC
ReedSmith
Rutgers Law School
Sanctuary for Families
Santos Tricoche Law Firm
Schneider Law Group
Schwartz Ehrens Immigration Law
Seligson Rothman & Rothman
Seward and Kissel LLP
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Skadden Arps
St. John's Law
Sugarman Law P.C.
Sullivan Cromwell
Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP
The Family Center
The Grotas Firm, P.C.
The Hebrew Immigrant Society
The Law Firm of Ramon M. Guerra
The Law Office of Sophie Raven
The Law Office of Sowmya Rao, PLLC
The Romero Firm, LLC
The Rosenstock Law Office, P.C.
The Safe Center LI
Thomson Reuters
Touro Law
Universal Calvary Church
Unlocal, Inc
Vinson & Elkins LLP
WAGNER BERKOW LLP
Walsh & Walsh, Attorneys at Law
Wells Fargo
Williams & Guerriera
Willis Towers Watson
WilmerHale, LLP
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wolfsdorf Immigration Law Group
Wong, Wong & Associates, PC
Yana Feldman & Associates, PLLC
Youth Represent
Zhang & Associates, P.C.
Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP
Our Founder
Lenni Benson
Director & Founder & Senior Advisor,
Policy and Research
Lenni Benson
Director & Founder & Senior Advisor,
Policy and Research
Professor Benson has won widespread recognition and numerous awards; in 1999, the American Immigration Lawyers Association named her Outstanding Professor in Immigration Law based on her contributions to the professional and scholarly development of the field and her role as a mentor of students and young attorneys. She was honored in 2008, along with other members of the Safe Passage Project, and received the State Bar President’s Award for Pro Bono Law School Project. She recently co-authored the first interactive immigration law textbook, and has authored numerous oft-cited articles, as well as many training videos and other visual materials.
From 2011-2012 Professor Benson was a consultant to the Administrative Conference of the United States, and prepared an extensive analysis of and recommendations for improvements to the system of immigration removal and adjudication. She is an active participant in immigrant rights projects coordinated by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), serves on the board of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Foundation, and is a trustee emeritus for the American Immigration Law Foundation. She has also served as Chair of the Immigration Committee of the Administrative Law Section of the American Bar Association and as Chair of the Immigration Section of the American Association of Law Schools.