Children's Legal Intern (Spanish Speaker)

TITLE: Children's Legal Intern

LOCATION: New York, NY

START DATE: Fall 2023

DURATION: Fall (September 11, 2023, to December 8, 2023)

POSITION REPORTS TO: Carlos Galindo and Jessica Lazo

BACKGROUND: International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. At work in more than 40 countries and over 20 U.S. cities, the IRC provides resettlement, education and empowerment support to refugees and displaced people.

SCOPE OF WORK (Children's Legal Intern): The Children's Legal Services (CLS) program in New York 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 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 NY state court, and we provide preparation and representation for those hearings as well.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

-Support in building and fostering relationships with clients by being part of client meetings, drafting supporting documents, and assisting with translation.

-Provide administrative support to the Children's Legal Services team, including checking for upcoming court hearings, communicating regularly with clients, preparing applications, and support in filing with appropriate agencies.

-Perform research on immigration issues, country conditions, etc.

-Partake in online immigration law trainings and webinars.

-Assist in tapping into other IRC NY programs to get additional support for clients when needed, such as educational resources, etc.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1.Intern will gain exposure and understand various immigration processes and reliefs available to unaccompanied children.

2.Intern will gain exposure to NY family court and procedures.

3.Intern will learn how to manage client cases within established deadlines.

4.Intern will develop problem solving skills, client services skills, and intercultural social work skills.

IRC leading the way From Harm to Home. Minimum Qualifications:-Bilingual in Spanish is required.

-This internship is for a law student.

-Equivalent work experience working with children and or serving low-to-moderate income immigrant populations (including -refugees, asylum seekers, etc.) highly preferred.

-Motivated, flexible, manages time effectively, and can work independently as well as within a team dynamic.

-IRC orientation and full background check (Live Scan & HireRight) required.

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.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.