Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) is Seeking Interns Interested in Immigration, Civil Rights and Criminal Legal Issues
Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) is seeking motivated interns interested in immigration, civil rights, and criminal legal issues. Interns will assist on a project that works with a large immigration detainee population in Southern Florida. The focus of the project is to help provide legal representation to immigration detainees at underserved facilities. In addition, the project seeks to provide advocacy for and assistance to, detainees who have suffered constitutional rights violations.
Florida expanded its immigration enforcement partnership with the federal government through programs relying on state and local law enforcement to identify deportable immigrants. While the stated mission is to target dangerous criminals, government statistics show that the vast majority of immigrants deported through the programs had minor or no criminal convictions.
Thus, the programs raise serious civil rights issues. Many immigrants identified through such programs are detained at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), Florida’s largest immigration detention facility and the only one used exclusively for immigrants with little or no criminal history. AI Justice is one of the few organization providing pro bono services there, and currently has limited capacity to do so. Interns will allow us to provide legal representation to a large, underserved population and to systematically identify and address civil rights violations in immigration enforcement.
This project is headed by an Equal Justice Works Fellow at AI Justice. Interns will work under the supervision of the Fellow. AI Justice is an independent, non-profit legal services provider located in Miami, Florida, which helps advocate for immigrants’ rights nationwide.
Specific Responsibilities include the following:
- Interns will interview immigration detainees
- Research legal issues and draft memos of law
- Assist detainees apply for immigration benefits
- Investigate cases and draft summaries to volunteer attorneys and organizations in order to recruit pro bono legal services for detainees in need of such services
- Assist with the creation and revision of the Know Your Rights curriculum and materials
- Assist during Know Your Rights presentations at the detention centers
- Help train project volunteers
- Interns may have an opportunity to take on their own cases. Interested interns will approach. Fellow with potential cases for review and evaluation. (Habeas Petitions, BIA Appeals, 11th Circuit Appeals, Motions to Reopen or Reconsider, Motions to Suppress, Padilla Related Issues and Cases, Bond detainer issues, Specific interests of the intern)
Required Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Attributes:
- Open to 1Ls, 2Ls and 3Ls looking for an opportunity to fulfill a pressing legal need while getting a first-rate, hands-on learning experience at the intersection of immigration, constitutional and criminal law
- Ability to work with and communicate with a variety of different multi-ethnic populations
- Strong Spanish language skills preferred (written, speaking, and reading)
- Other languages that are important to our ability to serve certain populations at the facility are: Creole, Portuguese and Chinese
- Knowledge or experience in any combination of the following areas: Immigration Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights Litigation, Criminal Law and Procedure
- Clinical experience preferred
- Journal or moot court experience a plus
- Strong organizational skills and work ethic
Openings:
Semester in Practice – Willing and able to host a law student wishing to spend a Fall or Spring semester working on this project as an externship for school credit.
Semester Internships – Looking for interns or volunteers to work from during the Fall or Spring semesters for either pro bono volunteer credit or for the practical experience.
Summer Internships – Looking for interns to work with us during the summer months.
Financial Information:
- The position is unpaid
- AI Justice is willing to work with schools so that interns can receive course credit for externships
- AI Justice is willing to advocate for interns in their efforts to secure funding for their internship
Closing Date: Applications will be considered until positions are filled.
Application Submission:
Send a cover letter and resume ONLY to Franco Torres.
Details are available on the website.