Fall 2015 Legal Internship Opportunity
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION
Immigrants’ Rights Project
New York, New York
For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than a million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or national origin.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project seeks part-time legal interns for the Fall of 2015, in its New York and San Francisco offices starting in September. A stipend is available for those students who do not receive outside funding and/or course credit. Arrangements can also be made with the student’s law school for work/study stipends or course credit.
OVERVIEW
The Immigrants’ Rights Project is a national project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation with offices in New York and California. Using targeted impact litigation, advocacy and public outreach, the Project carries on the ACLU’s historic commitment to protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of immigrants. In federal district and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, the Project conducts the nation’s largest impact litigation program dedicated to defending and expanding the rights of immigrants, enforcing the guarantees of the Constitution, and achieving equal justice under the law.
The Project has focused on challenging laws that deny immigrants access to the judicial system, impose indefinite and mandatory detention, and constitute discrimination on the basis of “alienage” by governmental and private entities. In addition, the Project has been challenging constitutional abuses that arise from immigration enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels, including litigation against worksite and home raids, local anti-immigrant employment and housing laws, and improper enforcement of federal immigration laws by local sheriffs. IRP’s efforts in the enforcement arena seek to ensure the constitutional protections of the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, combat racial profiling arising from actual or pretextual immigration enforcement that subjects immigrant communities to racism and hostility, and challenge government policies and practices that undermine or deny immigrants’ ability to effectuate their existing legal rights.
The Education component of the Project provides information about immigrants’ rights to immigrant communities nationwide. The Project works with the English and non-English language media, immigrant advocacy organizations and ACLU affiliates around the country to empower immigrant communities through presentations about their rights and about current and proposed immigration laws.
Working closely with IRP staff, legal interns will work in all aspects of litigation including legal research, factual investigation, and drafting of memoranda, affidavits, and briefs. Interns may also work with IRP staff to provide support and advice to ACLU affiliates, private attorneys, and others who seek our help; screening potential cases; and researching or drafting materials for public education. Interns will attend regular staff meetings, as appropriate.
INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW
This internship offers the opportunity to work on a variety of litigation projects. The internship requires a semester-long commitment with a preferred start date of September 1, 2015 and a minimum of 10 hours per week.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Interns will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside the Immigrants’ Rights Project team in all aspects of litigation, and will gain experience by working on the following:
- Conducting legal and policy research.
- Drafting memoranda, affidavits and briefs.
- Researching prospects for new litigation, including both factual and legal claims.
- Supporting research and drafting of materials for public education.
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
- One year of law school must be completed before the internship commences.
- Commitment to civil liberties and immigrants’ rights and an interest in working toward racial and social justice.
- Strong writing and research skills.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants should send a 1-2 page cover letter describing their interest in immigrants’ rights and civil liberties, including any relevant life or work experience gained before or during law school; resume; legal writing sample; contact information for two or three references; and transcript to hrjobsIRP@aclu.org.Please reference [IRP Fall 2015 Legal Internship/ACLU-W] in the subject line. Please indicate in the cover letter the preference for either the New York or San Francisco placement.