Jocelyn Mccalla Email & Phone Number

Mr. Jocelyn McCalla has been involved in international human rights and US policy analysis and advocacy since the mid 70s, promoting the rights of Haitian asylum-seekers under US and international law, and the rule of law in Haiti. He has published, testified before Congress, and the Inter-American Commission on Human rights, served as an expert witness in asylum proceedings and promoted legislative remedies on behalf of Haitian refugees. Clients have included the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN), the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network (NJIPN), and the Strategic Solutions Washington DC (SSWDC)Mr. McCalla is generally regarded as a leader in the immigrants rights movement and the key expert on Haiti by Haitian and international institutions involved with Haitian matters.

Managed the affairs of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network (NJIPN) during a transitional period that featured sustained state and national immigration reform advocacy, led to a significant membership increase and positioned the Network to be the key immigration policy organization in the State of New Jersey

Spearheaded campaigns to promote and protect the human rights of Haitians in the US, Haiti and elsewhere in accordance with international standards. Testified frequently before Congress, and worked with a broad grouping of key American and Haitian civil rights, labor, religious, immigrant and human rights advocates, US Government, UN and OAS officials. Established in 1982 as the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees, NCHR led major efforts that resulted in 1986 and 1998 in legislative remedies that together allowed some 90,000 Haitian refugees to gain legal immigrant status in the US. Managed an ethnically diverse staff that grew from two to sixteen in two offices. Re-engineered NCHR in 1995 as the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, shifting the organization’s focus from a refugee-protection agenda to a broader civil rights and international human rights agenda.