Remembering Clement Kai Lee

We are heartbroken to share the news that our cherished colleague, friend and Co-Director Clement Kai Lee has passed away. For the last 8 years, Clem shared his energy, brilliance and humor with us at the Sex Workers Project. His love of immigration law, dedication to our clients and passion for teaching transformed so many lives and truly made the world a better place.

A graduate of Cardozo Law School, Clem had 14 years of immigration law experience with particular expertise in LGBTQ+ asylum law. Prior to SWP, he was a supervising attorney at Central American Refugee Center (Carecen) and Make the Road New York. From 2011-2016, Clem gained meaningful experience representing LGBTQ immigrants in removal proceedings as a detention staff attorney at Immigration Equality. Since 2015, Clem mentored a team of law students at the Columbia University School of Law Gender and Sexuality Clinic, inspiring generations of law students to pursue careers in public interest law.

In recent years, Clem travelled often to Sao Paolo, Brazil where his love of languages flourished and he was working towards perfecting his Portuguese. In April of this year, Clem was beyond thrilled to have presented as a guest speaker in Portuguese about the asylum process in the United States at the Sao Paolo Law School.

Clem’s memory and legacy will live on in our hearts forever. At the Sex Workers Project, we continue to do the work to represent his many clients and the community he served. If you have the means, please donate to continue the work that was so meaningful to Clem.