Sue Colussy Honored Nationally As Mentor In Immigration Law

Published: September 2, 2004

ATLANTA—The American Immigration Lawyers Association recently presented the 2004 Sam Williamson Mentor Award to Sue Colussy, program director for Immigration Services, a program of Catholic Social Services, Inc. of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Colussy received the award June 12 in Philadelphia during the annual AILA convention for her outstanding efforts and excellent counsel to immigration attorneys by providing mentoring assistance. Colussy is the 13th recipient of this prestigious award.

Colussy has served CSS for 19 years and has been a champion of justice and a defender of equal rights. During this time she has served as a mentor to students from the clinical programs of Georgia’s law schools, teaching them the intricacies of immigration law. She has also been the foundation of the immigration bar in Atlanta. Dozens of AILA members have learned immigration law under Colussy’s tutelage. She has helped hundreds of people to obtain immigration status and asylum seekers and political refugees have benefited from her expertise. Her clients have included families seeking reunification, helpless foreign children and vulnerable individuals in need of protection.

For many years, Colussy was the only provider of legal services to detained foreign juveniles and she created a still-thriving pro-bono program to assist these youngsters before the immigration courts. She established the prisoner rights program and serves as a mentor to lawyers who take difficult and time-consuming pro-bono cases.

She has been previously honored by her peers and community in Georgia. In 2002 she was awarded the Phoenix Award by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin recognizing her years of work for the benefit of those most vulnerable in metropolitan Atlanta. In 2001 the State Bar of Georgia presented Colussy with the William B. Spann Award for pro-bono work with low-income aliens.

Sandra Hollett, executive director of Catholic Social Services, said the organization is grateful to have Colussy as part of the management team.

“We at CSS are so very fortunate and thankful to have an attorney of Sue Colussy’s caliber leading our Immigration Services program,” Hollett said. “Sue’s reputation and expertise are valued throughout the legal and social service communities in Atlanta. But we are the lucky ones to count Sue as one of our management team members at CSS.”