Children’s Legal Intern (unpaid)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

SCOPE OF WORK (Children’s Legal Intern): The Children’s Legal Services (CLS) program in New Jersey provides legal representation to unaccompanied children. To be eligible for services, unaccompanied children must be under the age of 18 at the time they enter the CLS program, have no immigration status, and, at the same time, have been officially designated as an unaccompanied child by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). We help them understand the immigration systems, prepare them for hearings, evaluate and advise them on the types of immigration applications they can file, and assist them with preparing their filings. Many cases will also involve hearings in New Jersey state court, and we provide preparation and representation for those hearings as well.

This is an unpaid internship but may be pursued for academic credit. If you are planning to obtain academic credit through the position, please indicate this in your cover letter.

Responsibilities

• Perform research on immigration issues and country conditions. Prepare legal motions, affidavits, briefs, petitions, and applications
• Support in building and fostering relationships with clients by being part of client meetings.
• Maintain case data management systems through data entry, such as tracking court hearings, deadlines for case activities, and client communications.
• Partake in online immigration law trainings and webinars.
• Assist in tapping into other IRC NJ programs to get additional support for clients when needed, such as educational resources, etc.
  
  

COMMITMENT: Minimum 15 hours per week for 12 weeks. Hybrid schedule.

Learning Objectives

• Intern will gain exposure and understand various immigration processes and reliefs available to unaccompanied children.
• Intern will gain exposure to New Jersey family court and procedures.
• Intern will gain an understanding of a trauma-informed, client centered approach and the special considerations when working with children in a legal setting.
• Intern will learn how to manage client cases within established deadlines.
  
  

Requirements

• Must be currently enrolled in an ABA-accredited JD or LLM program and completed 1L.
• Deep commitment to immigrant rights. Must have a demonstrated passion for working with children and/or low-to-moderate income immigrant populations (including refugees, asylum seekers, etc.)
• Motivated, flexible, manages time effectively, and can work independently as well as within a team dynamic.
• Must successfully complete IRC orientation and full background check (Live Scan & HireRight).
• Must be based in the U.S. Must have U.S. work authorization or be a U.S. citizen.
  
  

Preferred

• Fluency in Spanish preferred but not required.
• Equivalent work experience working with children and or serving low-to-moderate income immigrant populations (including refugees, asylum seekers, etc.)
  
  

Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.