Marielena Hincapié is NILC's New Executive Director

Congratulations to Marielena Hincapié and Linton Joaquin on their new roles at NILC. I have long admired their steadfast and effective work on behalf of immigrants; NILC is fortunate to continue to have them in different leadership capacities.

STATEMENT OF ALLEN ERENBAUM, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
On behalf of the National Immigration Law Center's Board of Directors, I am happy to share news of some exciting structural changes at NILC that will strengthen our work and our contribution to the overall immigrant rights movement.  NILC has played a critical role in integrating advocacy, legal and policy analysis, and litigation strategies on key issues confronting the low-income immigrant community.  The current wholesale assault on immigrants demands that we play a greater role in legal challenges to their mistreatment and that we enhance our advocacy, communications, and litigation capacity.  We are confident you will share our excitement about changes in NILC's leadership structure that will enable us to better respond to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

We are honored that our current executive director, Linton Joaquin, has decided to take on the new position of general counsel to NILC.  Linton has thirty years of litigation experience and is one of the premier immigration litigators in the country.  His experience spans a wide range of immigration and constitutional issues, and he is relied upon by litigators throughout the nation for advice, strategy, and support.  As general counsel, Linton will further develop NILC's capacity to engage in strategic litigation to defend low-income immigrants' due process and civil rights at a time when their rights are under siege.  The board recognizes Linton's outstanding service to NILC during the last four years as its executive director.  Linton has used his wisdom and grace to overcome challenges and lead NILC to new heights, and his contributions as executive director will always be remembered.

I am also delighted to announce that Marielena Hincapié, currently director of programs, will become NILC's new executive director.  Marielena is extraordinarily talented, and NILC's board and staff are confident that she has the vision, commitment, and energy to take NILC to its next level.  Many of you already know Marielena from her advocacy efforts throughout the country.  She joined NILC in 2000 as a staff attorney in our Oakland office and became director of programs in 2004, leading NILC's programmatic work.  Because of her strong leadership and management skills, Marielena has already taken responsibility for much of NILC's internal management and fundraising efforts while also taking charge of high impact programmatic work, including litigating against the DHS rule regarding Social Security no-match letters, supporting organizing efforts in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, and providing leadership on responding to immigration raids and other workers' rights issues.  We are fortunate to have such a talented and qualified leader.

Linton's shift to the general counsel position and Marielena's assumption of the executive director position will take effect September 15, 2008, to allow for a properly organized transition.  With this restructuring of our leadership as well as the strategic planning NILC is embarking on, NILC will become a stronger organization that brings vision and leadership combined with in-depth analysis and litigation support to the immigrant rights movement.  These changes will increase NILC's capacity to play a critical role in the national immigrant rights movement while providing critical support to state and local advocates, and community and labor organizers.

STATEMENT OF LINTON JOAQUIN ON TRANSITION TO GENERAL COUNSEL POSITION AT NILC
I look forward to transitioning from the position of executive director to fill the newly created position of general counsel.   Now is a critical time for NILC to increase its litigation capacity, and personally I am eager to focus more of my time on litigation.  Currently, both the federal government and many states are taking unprecedented and escalating actions to deny immigrants fair treatment and due process.  In the general counsel position, I will be able to give more time and attention to litigation in response to these challenges.

I am delighted that Marielena Hincapié has accepted the position of executive director at NILC.  As director of programs, Marielena has played a critical role in NILC's top management throughout the time I have served as executive director.  Marielena is an extraordinarily talented and dynamic leader, and she will be an outstanding executive director.  And I am particularly pleased to see that my successor as executive director is someone from the immigrant community who developed her remarkable skills while working at NILC.

STATEMENT OF MARIELENA HINCAPIÉ ON ACCEPTANCE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION AT NILC
It is with great honor that I step into the executive director role to help NILC grow into a more strategic organization for low-income immigrants in this country.  It is a privilege to have the opportunity to take on this leadership position at such an important moment for the immigrant rights movement and for our country.

As an immigrant from Colombia from a working class background, I do not take this task lightly.  I gather inspiration from the many immigrants - including my own family members who have been directly affected by unjust immigration policies - who have had the courage, despite personal hardship and great risk, to work to build a better country for all of us.

Although the challenge is great, I feel well prepared after eight years as staff attorney at NILC, the last four of which I served as director of programs, sharing NILC's leadership with Linton Joaquin - a relationship that will continue seamlessly after this transition.  I look forward to working closely with him as NILC's new general counsel.  I also have the luxury of being able to count on the rest of NILC's dedicated staff and dynamic advocacy partners.  Because of this solid foundation, I am confident of NILC's continued success and am excited about what we will be able to accomplish together in the coming years.

I very much look forward to working with you in my new capacity to secure just and humane immigration policies for our diverse immigrant communities.

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