Damjan Denoble

About Damjan Denoble

I am an immigration and civil rights attorney, a father of three, and a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Connecticut’s 3rd District.I am running because our democracy is overdue for generational change, both in who leads it and in how we govern. It will take a sustained, decades-long effort to bring us back from the brink and onto the firm footing of a stable, peaceful democracy.For nine years, I have worked alongside immigrant families and workers. I have fought deportations, advanced labor rights, and pushed back against systems that punish the vulnerable. For a long time, I believed I could stay out of politics and focus instead on direct action. I thought I could help by changing lives one at a time through advocacy, legal work, and organizing. That work took me from for-profit prisons and border encampments to larger efforts to end the mass incarceration of immigrants.But I no longer believe that direct action alone is enough. We have to change the levers of government. And to do that, leaders must provide a vision for where we are going. On July 15, I will release A New Commonwealth, a long-form campaign video that introduces my candidacy and my vision for what Connecticut’s 3rd District and a revitalized Congress can become. The video is a call for generational leadership, but it also makes the case for stronger state sovereignty and a reimagined national politics. I believe we must restore trust, expand rights, and meet this moment with urgency. Before launching this campaign, I founded Frontera Labor, a New Haven-based immigration law firm focused on seasonal labor programs like H-2B. We have helped immigrant workers and employers across the country navigate complex federal systems, win key appeals, and improve conditions for essential labor. Before that, I led Mi Maletín / FronteraTECH, a nonprofit focused on increasing legal access for immigrants held in rural detention centers, prisons, and refugee camps. And before that, I founded a consulting firm and news outlet that took me to Southeast Asia, where I served as a correspondent for the Nikkei Asian Review. Before all of that, I had the best job of my life, working in a pizza restaurant in Beijing. I had the chance to do all of these things because I came to this country as a refugee when I was very young.I believe that life is what we make of it. But I also believe that in order to make something new, we have to be able to imagine that something better is possible.That is why I am running. And that is what this campaign is about.

Experience

1. H-2b Visa Labor Expert and Recruitment Partner

   Frontera Labor

   Jul 2016 — Present · New Haven, CT, US

Education

• University of Michigan - Rackham Graduate School

  Master of Arts (M.A.), Chinese Studies

  2012 — 2014

• Peking University

  Chinese Language Studies Certificate, Thunderbird Language School: Chinese Language and Business

  2007 — 2008

• Duke University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

  2003 — 2007

• Middlebury College

  Certificate of Completion; Pre-Advanced Chinese Language Course, Chinese Language School

  2012

• University of Michigan Law School

  Juris Doctor (J.D.)

  2010 — 2014

Skills

• Employment-Based Immigration
• Strategy
• Immigration
• Chinese Law
• Business Strategy
• U.s. Immigration
• H-2b Visa Certification
• Web Application Design