RACHEL RIEGELHAUPT
New York,NY
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Asylum Officer
USCIS - Newark Asylum Office
Newark, USA
01.2023 - Current
- Adjudicate affirmative asylum applications by reviewing applications and supporting evidence, conducting asylum protection interviews, researching country of origin information, and interpreting and applying appropriate policy, regulations, and precedent decisions to make final determinations on complex and sensitive immigration benefits cases.
- Serve as a Human Trafficking Point of Contact to advise colleagues on cases involving trafficking survivors.
- Develop and present trainings on trauma-informed interviewing techniques.
Arthur Helton Global Human Rights Fellow
EQUAL RIGHTS BEYOND BORDERS
Kos, Greece
09.2021 - 09.2022
- Represented asylum seekers in affirmative asylum proceedings before the Greek authorities and the European Asylum Support Office, as well as in family reunification proceedings for clients with qualifying family members in the EU.
- Advocated for detained clients to be released from pre-removal detention.
- Supported strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Researched ECtHR’s decisions related to migration, torture, and deprivations of liberty, and helped identify clients to be involved in litigation before the ECtHR.
- Investigated and reported on the human rights impact of border management measures on Kos in response to COVID-19, especially with respect to conditions within the COVID-19 quarantine. Submitted findings and legal appeals to UN Special Procedures.
NYU Clinical Intern
IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS
New York, USA
01.2021 - 05.2021
- Prepared defensive asylum applications for Central American women undergoing removal proceedings from the US
- Conducted client interviews, gathered evidence, drafted client declarations, and wrote legal briefs
Legal Intern
Sanctuary for Families
New York, USA
05.2018 - 08.2020
- Immigration Intervention Project: Prepared affirmative asylum applications for asylum seekers fleeing gender-based persecution, as well as U-Visa applications for undocumented victims of domestic violence.
- Campus Advocate: Provided consultations and representation to survivors of sexual violence through the civil, criminal, and Title IX systems.
- Courtroom Advocate: Secured an order of protection for a domestic violence survivor in Bronx Family Court.
Legal-Intake Volunteer
New Sanctuary Coalition, Pro Se Asylum Clinic
New York, USA
08.2018 - 06.2020
- Performed intake interviews and drafted asylum applications, FOIA requests, and VAWA petitions for migrants and asylum seekers in NYC
NYU Clinical Intern
LEGAL AID SOCIETY: HOUSING JUSTICE UNIT
New York, USA
01.2020 - 05.2020
- Appeared in Housing Court on behalf of low-income tenants facing housing evictions
- Conducted intake and screening interviews, gathered evidence, prepared affidavits and wrote motions, conducted oral arguments on motions, and joined in trial preparation
NYU International Law and Human Rights Fellow
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTION WATCH-ASIA PACIFIC
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
06.2019 - 08.2019
- Mentored NGO and civil society representatives from Qatar, Mozambique, Austria, Cabo Verde, Guyana, and Cote d’Ivoire about the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) treaty-body review process, facilitated country-level working-groups in negotiating priority issues, and then coordinated their participation at the CEDAW Committee Review
- Conducted a data mapping and analysis of individual complaints under CEDAW’s Optional Protocol, particularly as they relate to the admissibility of asylum seekers’ claims
- Contributed to IWRAW’s submission of views on a draft legally binding instrument on the Right to Development for the UN Human Rights Counsel’s Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development
- Published research on access to justice for female refugees in Malaysia experiencing domestic violence
DOROT FELLOWSHIP
08.2017 - 06.2018
- Studied documentary filmmaking through this yearlong social justice fellowship
- Forged partnerships with grassroots women’s associations in rural Palestine and produced a documentary film to bring attention to a group of schoolchildren’s struggle to access education in the face of home demolitions and settler violence
Legal-Intake Volunteer
ERITREAN WOMEN’S CENTER: REFUGEE STATUS DETERMINATION CLINIC
Tel Aviv, Israel
03.2017 - 05.2018
- Performed intake interviews and drafted RSD forms for Eritrean and Sudanese refugees in South Tel Aviv
Education in Emergencies Team
UNICEF REFUGEE AND MIGRANT RESPONSE TEAM IN GREECE
Athens, Greece
01.2017 - 05.2017
- Led UNICEF’s data collection and analysis regarding access to education of refugee children living outside of formal refugee camps in order to identify populations in need of education services; presented findings to Greece’s Education Sector Working Group and Ministry of Education.
- Drafted UNICEF’s report to address limitations within the Greek Ministry of Education’s refugee program.
- Developed a multi-lingual library of approximately 1000 books at a refugee camp in Central Greece—efforts included fundraising, procurement of books, bookshelves, and a 40-ft Refugee-housing unit, as well as logistical planning with UNHCR.
Education
J.D. -
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
New York, NY05.2021
M.A. - Human Rights Studies
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
New York, NY01.2017
B.A. - International Studies, Sociology; Minor in Visual Arts
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Baltimore, MD05.2015
Publications
- Lockdown Limbo: Human Rights Impact of Border Management Measures on Chios and Kos in Response to Covid-19, Equal Rights Beyond Borders, 09/22, pending
- Manufactured Emergencies: The Crisis at the Core of the National Emergencies Act, NYU Journal on Legislation & Public Policy, 05/21
- Asylum As Reparation for Past Historical Wrongs: US Involvement in Creating Today’s Central American Refugee Crisis, Institute for International Law and Justice at NYU School of Law, 04/20
- When Illegality is the Starting Point: Refugees and Domestic Violence in Malaysia, International Women’s Rights Action Watch, 09/19
- Sustainable Solutions: Women’s Involvement in Peacebuilding, Institute for International Law and Justice at NYU School of Law, 04/19
- Airbnb’s Complicity in Human Rights Violations in Israel’s West Bank Settlements, MA Thesis, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University Academic Commons, 2017
- From the First Hour of Life: Making the Case for Improved Infant and Young Child Feeding Everywhere, UNICEF, 2016
- How International Media Outlets are Failing the Peace Movement in Israel/Palestine, RightsViews, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, 10/18/16
- Blood Timber: A Resource Curse, RightsViews, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, 11/18/15
Certification
- Admitted to the New York State Bar
Timeline
Asylum Officer
USCIS - Newark Asylum Office
01.2023 - Current
Arthur Helton Global Human Rights Fellow
EQUAL RIGHTS BEYOND BORDERS
09.2021 - 09.2022
NYU Clinical Intern
IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS
01.2021 - 05.2021
NYU Clinical Intern
LEGAL AID SOCIETY: HOUSING JUSTICE UNIT
01.2020 - 05.2020
NYU International Law and Human Rights Fellow
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTION WATCH-ASIA PACIFIC
06.2019 - 08.2019
Legal-Intake Volunteer
New Sanctuary Coalition, Pro Se Asylum Clinic
08.2018 - 06.2020
Legal Intern
Sanctuary for Families
05.2018 - 08.2020
DOROT FELLOWSHIP
08.2017 - 06.2018
Legal-Intake Volunteer
ERITREAN WOMEN’S CENTER: REFUGEE STATUS DETERMINATION CLINIC
03.2017 - 05.2018
Education in Emergencies Team
UNICEF REFUGEE AND MIGRANT RESPONSE TEAM IN GREECE
01.2017 - 05.2017
J.D. -
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
M.A. - Human Rights Studies
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
B.A. - International Studies, Sociology; Minor in Visual Arts
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
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