The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children is a left-of-center immigration law and activism organization. In addition to providing legal services to children allegedly in the country illegally, it works with other organizations to assign state-funded legal services, and promotes liberal-expansionist immigration policies within New Jersey. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and History

The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children was founded in 2015, although it did not receive independent tax-exempt status until 2022. The group began as an informal group of attorneys who would work on cases involving immigrant children, but became more formalized and prominent in New Jersey after it became an independent tax-exempt organization. ⁴

Finances

In the fiscal year ending June 2024, the New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children reported $1,239,148 in revenue, of which $1,227,451 was derived from contributions and grants and $11,697 was derived from investment income. It reported $1,195,569 in expenses, of which $983,385 was spent on staff salaries and compensation. It ended the year with a surplus of $43,579 and net assets of $612,999. ⁵

Funders include the Celia Lipton Farris and Victor W. Farris Foundation, the F. M. Kirby Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Immigrant Justice Corps, and the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey. ³

Activities

The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children represents child immigrants, often illegal immigrants who either overstayed visas or were unaccompanied minors who crossed the border, in legal proceedings. The group’s executive director said in an interview that the group was specifically planning to deal with expected immigration law and policy changes under the second Trump administration. ^{6 7}

The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children directly represents children and young adults under 21 in immigration hearings to prevent deportation and to secure asylum, humanitarian relief, and other immigration statuses that would allow clients to remain in the United States. Additionally, it operates as the main coordinator for intakes and referral for a New Jersey state-funded program that provides free legal representation to unaccompanied-minor suspected illegal immigrants. ¹

The group also provides legal and advocacy training surrounding changing immigration law and regulations. ¹

Additionally, the group advocates for various policies related to migrant children, notably pushing for free legal representation for unaccompanied minors, reforms to the government education system to address the large influx of children who are not fluent in English, and state funding for health care for said children. ²

The group also runs Immigrant Youth Advocates, an activism training program that teaches first- and second-generation immigrant youth in advocacy and media techniques to promote the group’s positions on immigration policies. As of February 2025 the program had nine publicly listed participant who could be booked for speaking and media engagements. ⁸

Leadership

Priscilla Monico Marín is the executive director of the New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, a position she has held since March 2022. She has worked in immigration law for many years at several organizations dating back to 2014. ⁹

1. “Our Work.” NJCIC. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.njcic.org/our-work.
2. “Focus Areas.” NJCIC. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.njcic.org/focus-areas.
3. “2024 Annual Report.” NJCIC. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGZLyRfQjk/vUdYhQS_7qMeAWbK11rQlQ/view.
4. “2023 Annual Report.” NJCIC. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6270343397fdb3056f3ee9f2/t/678a72745e66c713b5215aa5/1737126526293/NJCIC+2023+Annual+Report.pdf.
5.  New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, Return of an organization exempt from taxation (Form 990) Part I, 2023.
6. “Our Mission and Vision for New Jersey.” NJCIC. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.njcic.org/mission-and-vision.
7. Janssen, Emma. “Preparing for the Worst.” The American Prospect, January 27, 2025. https://prospect.org/api/content/eeff7700-da91-11ef-8d40-12163087a831/.
8. “Immigrant Youth Advocates.” NJCIC. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.njcic.org/immigrantyouthadvocates.
9. “Priscilla Monico Marín, Esq.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmonicomarinesq/.