Topic to Cover
“Status of Immigration Law“
Biography
Susan Girardo Roy’s law practice focuses on immigration, criminal, and municipal court law, and in particular the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Sue was employed as a federal immigration attorney for nearly 14 years, working at both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. During her years of service, Sue gained expertise in every aspect of immigration law, including citizenship, asylum, visas, and deportation, and developed a specialty in the areas of criminal consequences of immigration law and national security issues.
In 1996, she earned her law degree, cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she was also a Public Interest Law Scholar, the Editor in Chief of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal and the Assistant Coach for the Cardozo Moot Court National Entertainment Law Team. Sue also holds a master’s degree in Politics & Public Policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University; and a bachelor’s degree, with honors, also from Rutgers, where she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Rho Lambda Honor societies.
Sue began her legal career through the Department of Justice Attorney General Honors Program, at the Executive Office of Immigration Review, Board of Immigration Appeals. She worked as an attorney-advisor at the BIA, where, among other projects, she was selected to work on the criminal alien project team. She then became an Assistant Chief Counsel for the then INS, in Newark, NJ, specializing in complex asylum, citizenship, and criminal immigration cases. Susan was trained as a national security law division attorney, and, after the INS became Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she was promoted to the position of Senior Attorney. She was then appointed to the position of Immigration Judge, a position she held for two years. Susan has now decided to go into private practice, and will use her considerable immigration expertise to help people navigate their way through the complex and often confusing U.S. immigration laws.
In addition to her law practice, Sue has served as the Municipal News Editor for West Windsor-Plainsboro News, and has written countless news and feature stories for the paper. Sue is also an Adjunct English Professor at Mercer County Community College, has written numerous travel and family-related articles, and is currently writing a New Jersey travel book. She recently authored two articles for Campus Safety and Student Development on the issue of college obligations towards F-1 students.
Sue is also involved in community and volunteer activities. She is a West Windsor Township Sewer Commissioner and a member of the Affordable Housing Committee, and formerly served on the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Group. She has served as President and Vice President of the PTAs of her children’s schools; and is a member of the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district Community Education Parent Advisory Council. She has been a West Windsor Pack 66 Cub Scout den leader, and is a member of West Windsor Troop 40’s Committee, the Board of Review and the Eagle Scout Board of Review. She has served as a youth catechist at St. David the King Catholic Church, and served on the Social Concerns Committee. In recognition of her volunteer work, in 2013 Sue was awarded a NJ State Governor’s Jefferson Award.
Sue is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York. She is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association, the Mercer County Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, for which she serves on the Pro-Bono Committee (past Chair), the OCC Liaison Committee, the USCIS-Mt. Laurel Committee, and the Municipal Court Liaison Committee the for the NJ Chapter. She is also a member of the Mercer County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, the Volunteer Lawyer Project, and Lawyers CARE pro-bono service. She is also a member of the ARAG attorney-client networking service.