The Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (“DDDI” or “Initiative”) is a state-funded program that provides pro bono immigration counsel to indigent New Jerseyans in removal proceedings. Seton Hall Law’s Immigrants' Rights/International Human Rights Clinic of the Center for Social Justice has participated in DDDI since its launch in 2018, along with Legal Services of New Jersey (LSNJ), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and Rutgers Newark Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic.
New Jersey has been one of the key states at the forefront of expanding access to counsel for noncitizens facing deportation and family separation. In 2016, as part of Judge Michael Chagares’s Working Group on Immigrant Representation in New Jersey, Seton Hall Law’s Immigrants' Rights/International Human Rights Clinic issued a report entitled Deportation Without Representation: The Access-to-Justice Crisis Facing New Jersey's Immigrant Families. The report revealed that only about one-third of detainees in New Jersey had access to legal representation during the length of the study. Following the publication of the study, under the leadership of Professor Lori A. Nessel, Seton Hall Law’s Immigrants’ Rights/International Human Rights Clinic worked together with several community organizations and legal associations to raise awareness about this issue. The State of New Jersey then funded a pilot project that provided legal representation to detained individuals with low incomes at risk of deportation. The funding has been renewed each year under the direction of Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Legislature. Most recently, the state of New Jersey allocated $8.2 million for fiscal year 2023-2024, thus continuing its support of access to counsel for noncitizens in New Jersey. Legal Services of New Jersey coordinates the funding from the State and Seton Hall Law School receives its funding as a sub-grantee of LSNJ.
Seton Hall Law School’s component of the DDDI provides opportunities for clinical, pro bono, and extern students to gain hands-on experience representing detained and formerly detained noncitizens fighting deportation. Students are involved in all aspects of the case work, from initial interviews and certification drafting, to country conditions research, appearance in immigration hearings, and drafting federal appellate briefs.
Learn more about the work of the DDDI here:
Thousands of Hours Dedicated to Fighting for the Rights of New Jersey Immigrants
The program is directed by Professor Lori A. Nessel and staffed by Associate Clinical Professor Glykeria Teji, Managing Attorney Susan G. Roy and Practitioner in Residence Kimberly Medina, Immigration Detention Fellows Patricia Laureano and Paulina Leyva Hernandez, and Paralegals Valeria Barcia and Brenda Araniva. Current Seton Hall Law students who are interested in volunteering with the program should contact Glykeria Teji.
Professor of Law
J.D., CUNY School of Law |
B.A., University of California
[email protected] | 973-642-8700 | Rm 220| VIEW PROFILE
Managing Attorney
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center |
M.A., Eagleton Insitute of Politics at Rutgers University |
B.A., Rutgers University
[email protected]
Susan G. Roy began her legal career with the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General Honors Program, as an Attorney Advisor at the Board of Immigration Appeals. She became an Assistant Chief Counsel and National Security Attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in Newark, New Jersey. From 2008-2010, she served as an Immigration Judge, also in Newark. Sue then entered private practice and was a solo practitioner specializing in complex criminal immigration cases and federal litigation. Sue joined the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (DDDI) in 2024 as a Senior Practitioner in Residence with the Immigrants’ Rights/International Human Rights Clinic at the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice. She became the DDDI Managing Attorney at Seton Hall Law in the fall of 2024.
Sue is the former Chair of both the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) New Jersey Chapter and the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Immigration Law Section. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the NJSBA Municipal Court Practice Section and has been a member of the NJSBA Legislative Committee for several years. Sue received the NJSBA Distinguished Legislative Services Award in 2023 and the AILA Sam Williamson Mentor Award in 2024.
During her time in immigration practice, Sue has been a guest lecturer at several law schools, and has taught as an adjunct professor at Rutgers Law School, University of DC Law School, and Mercer County College. She serves on the faculty of the Immigration Trial Advocacy College and Vecina, two pro bono organizations that train litigation attorneys in trial advocacy skills. In addition, she has authored articles in the New Jersey Law Journal, the AILA Law Journal, and the University of Vermont Law Journal, among others.
Sue is a member of the Round Table of Former Immigration Judges, and, through the Round Table, has been involved in more than 70 amici briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal courts of appeal, the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and other courts. As a Round Table member, in 2019, she was awarded the AILA Advocacy Award of the Year. She has been a speaker and/or moderator for many NJSBA conferences, in the areas of immigration, municipal court practice, ethics, and LGBTQ+ rights. She has presented at numerous AILA national, regional, and local conferences, as well as the New York State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Mercer County Bar Association, and the Practicing Law Institute.
Practitioner in Residence
J.D., University of Minnesota Law School |
B.A., University of South Carolina
[email protected]
Detention Fellow
J.D., Seton Hall Law School |
B.A., Ramapo College of New Jersey
[email protected]
Detention Fellow
J.D./M.A., City University of New York School of Law |
B.A., City University of New York
[email protected]
Paralegal
B.S., New Jersey City University
[email protected]
Paralegal
B.S., Rutgers University
[email protected]
If you have an immigration-related matter or would like to refer a case to the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, please call the number listed below or email us at [email protected]. Since the CSJ can only accept a limited number of cases each year, our staff strives to provide an appropriate referral or links to online resources when we cannot take a case.
Seton Hall University School of Law
Center for Social Justice
833 McCarter Highway
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Phone: (973) 642-8700, M-F, 9-5
Email: [email protected]
Furthermore, Seton Hall Law School faculty and students conduct Know Your Rights sessions in the community. Contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in hosting a community education session on immigration law.
