Aya Ouda

Grants Associate
Bio coming soon.

Kim Robinson

Director of Development 
Kim joined Catholic Migration Services as the Director of Development in February 2022. In this role, she works with the Chief Executive Officer, the Director of Legal Services and program managers to identify the funding needs of the agency, strategize for how to meet those needs, to secure new or renewal grants or donations, and to report on our work to funders. Prior to joining the team, Kim worked as a senior grants and contracts management specialist at Legal Services NYC, as a program officer at Single Stop USA, and as a program director at the Fund for Modern Courts. She earned a Master of Public Health from Hunter College and a B.A. from Columbia University.

Jacqueline L. Aguilar

Senior Staff Attorney – Immigration Program 
Jacqueline is a Senior Staff Attorney in the Removal Defense Project. Jacqueline has vast experience working with asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, victims of domestic violence, and low-income communities, providing advice and representation in various proceedings such as housing court matters, family court matters, and immigration. Prior to joining Catholic Migration Services, Jacqueline worked as a staff attorney at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY, Catholic Charities Community Services, and Immigration Legal Services of Long Island.

Jacqueline is the daughter of immigrants from El Salvador, an avid reader, and musician. She graduated from New York Law School in 2010 and earned her bachelor’s degree in Childhood Education and English from Manhattanville College in 2006.

Jacqueline is admitted to practice law in New York and is fluent in Spanish.

Sr. Joan Anzalone

Immigration Counselor, DOJ Accredited Representative – Immigration Program
Sr. Joan Anzalone is an Immigration Counselor. She assists clients by preparing applications for Adjustments of Status, Naturalization, Green Card and Visa extensions. She also participates in outreach activities in parishes and community organizations. Prior to working at Catholic Migration Services, Sr. Joan was a social worker for communities in the South Bronx, the Lower East Side of Manhattan and in the Dominican Republic. Her work with these communities motivated her desire to work directly with immigrants because she wanted to help them feel welcomed in their country. Sr. Joan attended Fordham University where she studied Sociology and Education. She received her Masters in Social Work from Fordham University. Sr. Joan is fluent in Spanish.

Xiomara Bustamante

Senior Immigration Counselor – Immigration Program
Xiomara Bustamante is a Senior Immigration Counselor. She assists clients by preparing applications for Adjustment of Status, Citizenship, Petitions for the Freedom of Information Act disclosure and Removal of Conditional Residence. For clients who qualify, Xiomara ensures that they understand their right to access to public social benefits. Prior to becoming an Immigration Counselor Xiomara was an administrative assistant at Catholic Migration for 4 years. Xiomara enjoys the variation in her day that comes from the diversity of cases she manages. She delights in giving clients thorough explanations of their rights during their consultations. She is inspired by her client’s perseverance during times of difficulty and she uses this as motivation to exhaust all of her efforts to help enhance each client’s experience with the organization. Xiomara attended Brooklyn College where she studied Computer Science. Xiomara is fluent in Spanish.

Marlon Campeche

Staff Attorney  – Immigration Program
Marlon Campeche is a staff attorney working for the Removal Defense Project at Catholic Migration Services. Marlon graduated from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in May 2019, where he participated in the Immigration Justice Clinic as a student attorney representing indigent immigrant clients. Marlon has worked with asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors through legal internships at My Sisters’ Place and Safe Passage Project. He speaks fluent Spanish. As the son of immigrants from Mexico living in New York, Marlon sees working at Catholic Migration Services as an excellent opportunity to display his skills and contribute to his community.

Marisol Canales

Supervising Immigration Counselor, DOJ Accredited Representative – Immigration Program
Marisol Canales is a Supervising Immigration Counselor. She assists clients by preparing applications for Adjustments of Status, Naturalization, Green Card, VAWA, DACA, and RI Visa extensions. She also participates in outreach activities in parishes and community organizations. Prior to working at Catholic Migration Marisol was a receptionist and later an immigration counselor at Emerald Isle Immigration Center. She also worked as an assistant to the Director of Faith Formation at St. Bartholomew Parish in Elmhurst. She enjoys providing direct assistance to immigration because the information and resources gives clients the chance to live a less restrictive life. She is inspired by the personal connections she feels with her clients and by their hard work and perseverance. Her dedication to her clients is fostered by the knowledge that she will be an everlasting part of their life. Marisol attended Universidad del Istmo in Panama where she studied Information Systems. She is a DOJ accredited representative and is fluent in Spanish.

Staff Attorney – Immigration Program
Ghada is a Staff Attorney and Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow with the Removal Defense Project at Catholic Migration Services. Ghada is a Texas native and graduated in May 2021 with dual degrees in Law and Global Policy Studies from the University of Texas School of Law and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She is passionate about serving marginalized communities. She aims to leverage her skillsets in legislative lawyering, immigration, civil rights, and social justice lawyering to uplift those she serves. Ghada has interned for the Texas Supreme Court and clerked for the Texas Civil Rights Project, Open Society Justice Initiative, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and RAICES. She also served as staff editor at the Journal of Civil Liberties and Civil Rights and staff editor at the Journal of Law and Technology at Texas. She is a 2017 Rotary Education Scholar, having studied Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo.  She is a native Arabic speaker, an artist, and avid reader. Ghada is admitted to practice law in Texas and is seeking bar admission in New York.

Christopher Holtz

Supervising Attorney – Immigration Program
Christopher Holtz is a supervising attorney in the Removal Defense Project, where he defends asylees and noncitizens in removal proceedings in U.S. Immigration Court and before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He also represents clients who are affirmatively filing for immigration benefits in our Immigration Legal Services Program. In his work, Chris strives to help clients who otherwise cannot afford legal representation to navigate the complex immigration laws of the U.S.

Prior to joining our staff in 2012, Chris served as a legal intern in the organizations Immigrant Tenant Advocacy Program from 2009-2010. He graduated from St. John’s University School of Law in 2011, and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University at Buffalo in 2008. During law school Chris worked with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, where he provided legal services to low-income artists.

Chris is admitted to practice law in New York.

Isadora Jaffee

Staff Attorney – Immigration Program
Isadora Jaffee is a staff attorney with the Removal Defense Project at Catholic Migration Services. Isadora graduated from City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law in May 2021, where she was the chair of the International Law Society and held leadership positions in several noncitizen justice groups. There she also represented under supervision an asylum client for CUNY Law’s Immigrant and Noncitizen Rights Clinic (INRC) and worked on three civil rights cases as a part of CUNY Law’s Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility (CLEAR) clinic. Before joining Catholic Migration Services, she interned in The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) unit of The Legal Aid Society and the Immigration unit of Prisoners’ Legal Services. Isadora also worked part-time at Queens Defenders and Legal Outreach Inc. As a baby and between her time in college and law school, Isadora lived in Japan. She was an English teacher in various public schools for three years and later a research fellow, producing research on the US Occupation’s attitude and policies towards migrants in Japan and the lasting effects today. She also worked in immigration legal service organizations in Tokyo.

Isadora speaks Japanese and some Spanish and is admitted to practice law in New York.

Legal Assistant – Immigration Program
Hannah is the legal assistant for the Removal Defense Project and is currently serving as a volunteer with the Mercy Volunteer Corp. She graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University with a B.A. in political science and a minor in Spanish. Due in party to her family’s story, immigration was a consistent theme throughout her studies, which included studying abroad in Argentina.

Hannah is bilingual in English and Spanish.

José M. León

Supervising Attorney, Naturalization – Immigration Program
José M. León supervises the Naturalization practice at Catholic Migration Services, including naturalization applications and requests for certificates of citizenship for those who derived or acquired citizenship through their parents. José also works as a senior staff attorney in the Removal Defense Project, which represents clients in removal proceedings in Immigration Court. He helps clients with defensive asylum claims, defensive Violence Against Women Act petitions, Cancellation of Removal for Non-Permanent Resident applications, U-Visa Petitions, T-Visa Petitions, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Petitions in Family Court and with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

José is a graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and holds a B.A. in Economics and History from Northwestern University. Prior to joining Catholic Migration Services, José interned at Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, the Immigration Unit at Legal Aid Society in Manhattan, and completed the year-long immigration Justice Clinic at Cardozo Law.

José grew up in San José, Costa Rica and Barcelona, Spain. He Speaks Spanish, Catalan, French and German. José is admitted to practice law in New York.

Lynn Neugebauer

Supervising Attorney – Immigration Program
Lynn Neugebauer is the Supervising Attorney for the Removal Defense Project. Before joining Catholic Migration Services, she was the Director of the Safe Horizon Immigration Law Project, a staff attorney representing immigrants at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, staff attorney at two small immigration law firms, and an attorney at the National Labor Relations Board.

She went to Brooklyn Law School and NYU undergrad. Admitted to the New York Bar and the federal courts here, Lynn spent a little over three years as an Administrative Law Judge doing hearings and adjudicating claims for individuals seeking disability benefits from the Social Security Administration.

Lynn is bilingual, speaking English and Spanish and is conversational in French and Russian.  She is admitted to practice law in New York.

Raluca Oncioiu

Managing Attorney – Immigration Program
Raluca manages the three immigration programs – removal defense, affirmative, and naturalization – at Catholic Migration services, and also works directly with clients. She hails from Romania, where her parents emigrated from in the early eighties. Prior to joining Catholic Migration Services in late 2021, she directed the immigration legal services and immigration hotline departments at catholic Charities Community Services. Raluca is a graduate of Tufts University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and New York University School of Law. Raluca is admitted to practice law in New York and is fluent in Romanian and conversational in Italian.

Samantha Pascal

Naturalization Coordinator – Immigration Program
Samantha is the Naturalization Coordinator at Catholic Migration Services. She received her B.A. in Human Rights from Columbia University in 2018. As a Haitian Immigrant, Samantha has always been passionate about advocating for immigrant rights. Her passion led her to Immigrant Justice Corps where she was offered a two-year fellowship as a Community Fellow. As a fellow, she became a partial BIA Accredited Representative and placed at the Brooklyn Central Public Library where she provided direct legal service to immigrants seeking affirmative relief. Samantha is Fluent in French and Haitian Creole.

Andrea B. Sánchez

Immigration Paralegal – Immigration Program
Andrea is the Paralegal for the Removal Defense Project. Prior to joining staff, she served as a Mercy Corp Volunteer in the organization’s Naturalization Team.  She was proudly born and raised in Michigan by immigrant parents who migrated to the United States from Mexico. Since the age of 10, she has aspired to attend law school and specialize in the field of immigration. She graduated from Albion College in 2019, where she studied political science, mathematics, and public service. During her time at Albion, she worked at a small family law firm in Michigan, volunteered with a local non-profit filling out Medicaid applications for low-income families, and interned at a refugee center during her time studying abroad in Athens, Greece. Andrea is a native Spanish speaker.

Jeanne Sanon

Senior Immigration Counselor, DOJ Accredited Representative – Immigration Program
Jeanne Sanon is a Senior Immigration Counselor. She assists clients by preparing applications for Adjustment of Status, Naturalization, Green Card, VAWA, DACA and RI Visa extensions. Three years prior to working at Catholic Migration Services Jeanne taught civics and adult literacy at the Empowerment Centre for Caribbean Immigrants. Jeanne was exposed to the immigrant experience from a very young age. This encounter fostered a deep sense of responsibility to empower the immigrant community, especially Haitian immigrants. The passion for her work is sustained by her belief that individual achievement is most satisfactory when a community has access to the same opportunities. Jeanne is motivated to reach her highest potential only if her community can achieve theirs as well. Jeanne is fulfilled in her work because she knows that she is leaving an everlasting life changing impact on the people she meets. Jeanne attended CUNY York where she received a B.A in English Literature. Jeanne is fluent in Haitian Creole.

Aviva Schaffer

Senior Staff Attorney – Immigration Program
Aviva Schaffer is a Senior Staff Attorney with Catholic Migration Services. She received her B.A. from the University of Rochester and J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. During her undergraduate years, she volunteered with the Legal Aid Society of Rochester, where she discovered her passion for serving immigrant clients. In law school, she was an intern at the Arlington Immigration Court, CAIR Coalition, and UNHCR. Aviva is proficient in Spanish and Hebrew.

Michael Shannon

Senior Staff Attorney – Immigration Program
Michael Shannon is a Senior Staff Attorney in the Removal Defense Project. Before joining Catholic Migration Services, Michael worked at the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the Bronx Defenders, and Sanctuary for Families, where he was an Immigrant Justice Corps fellow.

Michael received his J.D. from Boston College Law School, where he represented immigrants in removal proceedings in his school’s Immigration and Asylum Clinic and Federal Appeals Clinic. He spent his summers at human rights organizations in Colombia and Bolivia, and completed a semester-long externship program at a refugee rights organization in Ecuador.

Before law school, Michael was a management consultant in Texas, an English teacher in Ecuador, a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, and an advocate for survivors of human rights abuses in Bolivia and Mexico. Michael is a graduate of Bowdoin College. He speaks Spanish and French.

Michael is admitted to practice law in New York.

Michelle Vázquez

Naturalization Counselor – Immigration Program
Michelle is a Naturalization Counselor at Catholic Migration Services where she assists clients in the process of applying for Naturalization. Prior to becoming a Naturalization Counselor, Michelle interned with the Workers’ Rights Team and served as the administrative assistant for a little over two years. In 2017, she graduated from St. Francis College with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and a minor in English and Forensic Science. Her experience with the criminal justice system while at St. Francis College and exposure as an intern and administrative assistant at Catholic Migration Services, opened her eyes to the injustice that exists, especially within the immigrant community. Michelle’s experiences, especially as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, made her want to be a part of an organization that prides itself in helping and being an ally of the immigrant community. Michelle is fluent in Spanish.

Jonathan Cohen

Managing Attorney – Tenant Advocacy Program
Jonathan Cohen is the Managing Attorney at Catholic Migration Services. Before joining the team, he was the Lead Housing Supervisor of the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center from 2017-2021. From 2006-2017, he was a Staff Attorney and a Senior Staff Attorney in the Mental Health Project at UJC, enforcing New York State’s psychiatric discharge planning laws and representing poor and indigent tenants with psychiatric disabilities. He also represented poor and indigent tenants at CAMBA Legal Services from 2000-2006. Mr. Cohen has also worked as Director of Education and Outreach for a non-profit Fair Housing organization, as a Civil Rights Investigator, and as a counselor for recovering drug users. Mr. Cohen has a B.A. in psychology from Haverford College and a J.D. from CUNY Law School.

Jonathan is admitted to practice law in New York.

Amy Collado

Tenant Organizer – Tenant Advocacy Program
Amy is one of our Tenant Organizers. She is an AmeriCorps volunteer alum, having served two years with Catholic Migration Services, and joined our team upon the completion of her second term. Amy is passionate about housing justice and hopes to have a positive impact in the movement along side her colleagues. In addition to her organizing efforts, Amy also provides continual support to our housing program through though not limited to interpretation skills and graphic design elements in which she applies when creating outreach material for the community.

Stephani Espinal-Suero

Tenant Organizer – Tenant Advocacy Program
Stephani Espinal-Suero is a community organizer in the Tenant Advocacy Program for Catholic Migration Services. Her work primarily serves the community in Ridgewood, Queens. Stephani was born in the Dominican Republic and earned a Business Administration degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD). In 2015, Stephani began community organizing alongside Yolanda Coca, a fierce community advocate and local leader in Bushwick and Ridgewood. Stephani joined the staff at Catholic Migration Services in 2015, and then in 2016 became a Public Ally under the Public Ally program for developing leaders. In 2018, Stephani graduated from the Center for Neighborhood Leadership (CNL) as a Community Organizer with the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD). In 2019, Stephani became a member of the Right to Counsel New York City Coalition, and today she continues to expand outreach in Ridgewood while focusing her work on tenant organizing in Elmhurst to address growing housing concerns.

Sarah Hainbach

Staff Attorney – Tenant Advocacy Program
Sarah Hainbach is a Staff Attorney with the Tenant Advocacy Program. Sarah received her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. Before law school, Sarah taught English at Bronx River High School. Sarah is committed to increasing access to justice and to using the law to protect safe and affordable housing. While in law school, Sarah led the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy as Editor-In-Chief. Sarah also served as a student attorney with the Civil Rights Clinic, and she completed internships with the New York Legal Aid Society, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, the D.C. Public Defender Service, and the D.C. Office of the Attorney General. Sarah is proficient in Spanish. She is admitted to practice law in New York and Maryland.

Samantha Lyons

Senior Staff Attorney – Tenant Advocacy Program
Samantha Lyons is a senior staff attorney with the Immigrant Tenant Advocacy Program, where she provides free legal counsel to low and moderate income immigrant tenants in Queens and Brooklyn. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan in 2009, and her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2016. Prior to law school, Samantha worked as the Pro Bono Coordinator of a large law firm in Washington, D.C., where she helped manage the firm’s pro bono initiatives and assisted with housing, immigration, wrongful conviction, and other legal matters. During law school, Samantha performed clinical work, providing low-income clients with legal assistance in housing, public defense, and wrongful conviction matters.

Samantha speaks Spanish and is admitted to practice law in New York.

Carlos Ortiz

Tenant Organizer – Tenant Advocacy Program
Carlos Ortiz is a Tenant Organizer. His work which takes place mostly in the Borough of Queens is devoted primarily on the Stabilizing NYC campaign, a city-wide effort led by a coalition of 14 organizations of which Catholic Migration is a member. The main focus of Stabilizing NYC is fighting Predatory Equity, and to this effect Carlos engages in tenant outreach, education, meeting facilitation, leadership development and other forms of organizing for both immediate tenant needs as well as more long-terms goals. He also provides support in other aspects of Catholic Migrations Tenant Advocacy program, providing translation and interpretation during clinics, meetings and court appearances, as well as mobilizing for actions. He is motivated by a deep commitment to social justice and a firm belief in community empowerment, which he strives to help facilitate. Carlos attended Columbia University, where he studied Philosophy and Political Science and organized around diverse issues including economic justice, gentrification and immigrant’s rights. Carlos is fluent in Spanish.

Anthony Salazar Vazquez

Paralegal – Tenant Advocacy Program
Anthony Salazar Vazquez is the Paralegal for the Tenant Advocacy Program. Before joining Catholic Migration Services, Anthony worked in the private law firm sectors in various fields of law working as a legal assistant and a paralegal. He is a born and raised New Yorker by immigrant parents from Mexico. Anthony is passionate in helping immigrant communities fight for their housing rights and receive justice. He will be receiving his bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, CUNY in Puerto Rican & Latino Studies and in Spanish at the end of the Fall 2022 semester. Anthony is a native Spanish speaker.

David Colodny

Senior Counsel
David Colodny provides advice and representation to low-wage workers seeking to vindicate their workplace rights. Immediately prior to his current role, David served as Catholic Migration Services’ Director of Legal Services and Senior Vice President. Before joining Catholic Migration Services in 2016, David worked as a Supervising Attorney at the Urban Justice Center (UJC) (2005-2016), as the Deputy Director and Director of Legal Services at the D.C. Employment Justice Center (2001-2005) and as an associate at the Washington, D.C., based law firm Patton Boggs LLP (1995-2000). David was also an adjunct professor of clinical law at the New York University School of Law (2008-2010).

David received his B.A. from Duke University and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He first became a member of the bar in 1995 in Maryland, and has been a member of the New York bar since 2006.

Anthony Damelio

Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney – Employment Unit
Anthony Damelio is a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney in the Employment Unit at Catholic Migration Services, representing low-wage and immigrant workers in their employment matters. In 2022, he earned a J.D. magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and a Stein Scholar for the Public Interest. During law school, Anthony interned with the National Center for Law & Economic Justice (NCLEJ), Fordham’s Federal Litigation Clinic, the Housing and Worker Protection Bureau at the Queens District Attorney, and Kakalec Law PLLC. His scholarship on wage theft has been published in the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

Anthony also holds a B.A. from Fordham University at Rose Hill and an M.Div. from Yale University. Prior to law school, Anthony served as the Deputy Director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), an immigrant worker center in New York City. His previous work includes non-profit management and religious leadership. Anthony is admitted to practice law in New York.

Alice Davis

Senior Staff Attorney – Employment Unit
Alice Davis is a senior staff attorney in the Employment Unit where she represents workers in wage and hour claims and other employment matters. She received her B.A. from New York University in 2009, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2012. During law school she performed clinical work, providing low-income clients with legal assistance in employment, immigration, and housing matters. Prior to joining Catholic Migration Services in 2013, she served as a Fellow at Legal Services of New Jersey in their Workers’ Legal Rights Project.

Alice is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.

Rebecca Rybaltowski

Paralegal – Employment Unit
Rebecca is a paralegal with the Employment Unit of Catholic Migration Services. In this role she provides support to Employment Unit, which provides low-wage workers with advice and representation on a wide range of employment matters, including wage theft, discrimination, unemployment insurance, paid leave and workplace injuries. Prior to this, Rebecca was the outreach coordinator where she engaged community members to provide support through outreach resources and legal services. She joined Catholic Migration Services as a Mercy Volunteer with the labor and immigration program, while serving as an interpreter for the organization. As a Mercy Volunteer she assisted in the development and format improvement of the Workers’ Rights Hotline to reach a wider range of individuals. Rebecca’s experience at Catholic Migration Services have enhanced her understanding of the importance of connecting immigrant communities to the different resources the organization offers. She enjoys working with individuals to keep them informed about relevant information impacting their lives. Rebecca attended Gordon College in Massachusetts where she graduated in 2011 with a B.A. in Spanish. She graduated from a certification program for legal interpretation at New York University and is currently in a double certificate program for interpretation and translation at Hunter College. She hopes one day to be a professional interpreter.