By: Ellyson Morgan

We spent the day following staff immigration attorney, Sarah Murphy, as she provides representation and assistance to clients in immigration-related cases across the Mohawk Valley North regional area.

A Busy Morning

Sarah Murphy, HLA staff attorney and devoted mother, spends her morning getting her five-year-old son ready for school before arriving at the office at 8:30.

The first hour of her day is spent responding to emails, making phone calls, checking the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Executive Office for Immigration Review websites for case updates, and getting started on her “to-do list” of case work, which she prepares the previous day.

She prioritizes cases with a nearing deadline, and moves on to others when the work for those cases is completed.

9:30 – Just Getting Started

Sarah begins working on her projects for the day around 9:30 a.m. This often involves handling high-priority cases and can also involve telephone consultations and case preparation.

Lunch

The completion of Sarah’s morning responsibilities calls for a lunch break.

Sarah typically brings her food from home or gets a slice of pizza from Pavone’s. When the weather permits, she also likes to walk down to the Salt City Market to buy lunch.

Back to Work

To keep herself organized, Sarah prioritizes new cases to open (if necessary) before moving onto other cases.

She then begins working on individual immigration cases, which may include an application for U.S. citizenship, permanent residence, or employment authorization, among many others.  Cases that are in Immigration Court often require legal research and preparing legal briefs and other documents.  No single case or application is the same and so no day is the same for Sarah.

The Center

Alternatively, Sarah spends a few days a month in Utica, at “The Center,” formerly named the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees. Here, she provides direct representation to individuals with immigration-related questions and educates the community on growing immigration concerns. 

Her typical day in Utica goes as follows:

• 9:30 – arrive at the Resource Center.
• Back-to-back consultations in the morning.
• Mid-day – Community presentations 
• Continue with consultations until 4:30 p.m.

Home

After a busy day, Sarah arrives home. Outside of work, she lives a fulfilling lifestyle. She enjoys reading, attending concerts, going for walks, and going to the movies. Sarah and her son like to go swimming or go to the zoo during the warmer months.

Sarah has been an attorney for nearly 20 years, graduating from law school at the University at Buffalo in May 2007. She gained experience in the legal field through various internships before graduating from law school.  She worked in private practice for 17 years before joining HLA. Sarah has now been with HLA since September 2024. 

Immigration Program

Thanks primarily to the support of the New York State Office for New Americans and the New York State Liberty Defense Project we are able to provide immigration legal services to three regions of New York State, covering a total of 18 counties, as follows:

• Central New York (Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties)
• Mohawk Valley (Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Schoharie, Otsego, and Oneida Counties)
• North Country (Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and Lewis Counties)

Under these programs we provide immigration legal services, including assistance with naturalization, adjustment of status, family reunification, asylum, employment authorization, travel documents, temporary protected status, deportation and removal defense, and more. We are also available to provide off-site Legal Clinics, Community Information Sessions, and Know Your Rights presentations, and to answer immigration queries from community members and partners.