Manoj is an ILD Managing Attorney who supports ILD's litigation and policy efforts and oversees ILD's Legal-Education Partnership with the California Community College system, a unique program that provides immigration legal services to students and community members at over thirty Community Colleges throughout California.

EXPERIENCE Manoj formerly worked at RAICES in San Antonio, Texas, where he spent seven years supporting removal defense, DACA applications, naturalization efforts, and other legal services for unaccompanied minors, family cases, and victims of crime. Under Manoj's leadership, the RAICES family detention team launched a national volunteer program that recruited and trained volunteers from throughout the country to provide legal services at the Karnes County family detention center outside of San Antonio. He also spearheaded the organization's advocacy efforts and legal response on behalf of families who had been separated by U.S. immigration authorities, as well as those who had been reunited and detained post-reunification. Manoj then served as the organization's first litigation director where he oversaw RAICES' work on several noteworthy cases challenging Trump-era asylum bans, changes to credible and reasonable fear processes, and family separation, as well as for several habeas and damages claims against the GEO Group, a for-profit detention company contracted by ICE throughout the U.S. From there, Manoj became RAICES' Director of Policy and Government Affairs where his efforts were focused on advocating with elected officials to pursue legislation to benefit immigrant populations.

EDUCATION Manoj holds a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. He is a member of the Illinois, Florida, and Texas bars and is fluent in Spanish.