Mamdani announces NYLAG Immigrant Protection Unit Director Melissa Chua will serve on the incoming administration’s Committee on Immigrant Justice
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 experts to help advise his incoming administration on a variety of issues and to provide essential policy and personnel insights. Among them is New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) Immigrant Protection Unit Director Melissa Chua, who will serve as a transition advisor for the Committee on Immigrant Justice.
“I am honored to serve our city, our immigrant neighbors and all New Yorkers by helping to ensure a smooth transition to a new administration that centers justice, due process and equity for all as a member of the mayor-elect’s transition advisory Committee on Immigrant Justice,” said Chua. “I look forward to working with the incoming Mamdani administration to continue to move NYLAG’s mission forward to secure justice for immigrants and other marginalized New Yorkers.”
Chua has worked as an immigration advocate for over a decade, specializing in defense from deportation, post-order practice and asylum. As director of the Immigrant Protection Unit at the New York Legal Assistance Group, she provides legal and programmatic oversight to a team of advocates providing free immigration legal services to New York City residents experiencing poverty. In this role, she also represents detained non-citizens, who face detention and immediate deportation.
“Melissa’s demonstrated expertise and leadership serving immigrant New Yorkers make her an exceptional choice to help shape the mayor-elect’s policies, priorities and positions on critical immigration issues at this pivotal moment in our city’s history,” said NYLAG President and CEO Lisa Rivera. “Melissa’s more than 16 years on the frontlines of immigration law and continued commitment to client-centered and trauma-informed advocacy have had an immeasurable impact advancing immigrant justice within communities, the legal service field and the justice system. She is a fierce advocate for our communities and will continue to be within this new role.”
Prior to her current position, Chua was the immigration director at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where she was responsible for developing agency-wide policies and practices on immigration and providing oversight of immigration field staff in the organization’s offices nationwide. She currently serves as an adjunct professor for Brooklyn Law School.
“A love for hard work, a deep belief in the promise of New York City and a commitment to the affordability agenda that New Yorkers are demanding unite the more than 400 experts we have appointed to our Transition Committees today. By helping us recruit top talent and develop smart policy, these committees will be instrumental to ensuring we hit the ground running on January 1st — and that our results align with the promises we’ve made,” Mamdani said Monday.
“Excellence is the guiding light driving this transition and today’s committee appointees are no exception. Together, these leaders will help prepare Mayor-elect Mamdani’s administration to take on the city’s toughest challenges—from housing access to emergency preparedness to the day-to-day operations of city government that must be exceptional,” said Transition Executive Director Elana Leopold Monday.
