Legal Internship- Immigration Impact Lab

Who We Are

The Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition is now Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (“Amica Center” for short). Click here to learn more about our new name. Since our founding in 1999, we have grown significantly and added new services to support immigrants in detention. Recently, Amica Center has outgrown our name, expanding beyond our initial services and geographic boundaries.

“Amica” is the Latin word for “friend,” and that echoes the way we approach what we do. Just as friends stand with one another, Amica Center stands with our clients to achieve the safety, stability, and opportunity we all deserve.

We are the only non-profit organization in the Washington, D.C. area that is exclusively focused on providing legal assistance to adult and child immigrants detained by the government in the Capital Region and beyond.

Position Summary

Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (formerly Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition) is seeking a 2L or 3L law student with a passion for immigrants’ rights, litigation, and public interest law for a Spring Legal Internship with our Immigration Impact Lab. The Immigration Impact Lab is Amica Center’s appellate and federal litigation project. Through the Lab, Amica Center responds proactively to attacks on immigrants’ rights by bringing appeals and federal district court actions with the potential to improve laws applicable to the wider immigrant community. The Legal Intern will assist our staff with representing adult and child immigrants in appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. Courts of Appeal. The Legal Intern will also assist our staff with class action cases and habeas petitions in federal district court.

We are currently accepting applications for Summer 2025. Our Summer Internship Program requires a commitment of at least 35 hours a week for 10 weeks, starting on or about May 27, 2025.

Applicants from historically underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. If relevant, please discuss in your application how your background motivates your interest in this position or otherwise affects your career goals.

Internships are unpaid; however, Amica Center can assist students seeking internship credit or funding.

Scholarship Opportunity:

Amica Center for Immigrant Rights invites all prospective interns to apply for the Amica Center Scholarship for the Spring 2025 semester. Amica Center will distribute four $1,000 tax-free* scholarships to eligible interns for the primary purpose of educational and professional development. To learn more, please visit https://amicacenter.org/join-the-fight/careers-internships/.

*Scholarship funds are intended to be used to pay for tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance at an educational institution, or for fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for courses at the institution. Scholarship recipients are advised to speak to a tax-expert and report the scholarship funds in their gross income to the IRS.

Remote Work:

To keep our internships accessible to all students regardless of geographic location, all Spring 2025 internships may be remote. We encourage applicants from local law schools and those from outside the D.C. area to apply. There is no requirement that interns conduct any in-person work during their internships, but interns may have the opportunity to appear in or observe court in person. There will be opportunities for in-office work, in-person meetings, and events with staff and fellow interns in compliance with Amica Center’s COVID-19 policies.

General Duties and Responsibilities:

Appeals

The Legal Intern may assist with all aspects of our ongoing appeals at the BIA and federal circuit courts related to asylum, the intersection of criminal and immigration law (“crimmigration”), and immigration detention, including conducting legal research and writing memoranda.

Habeas Petitions

The Legal Intern may assist with drafting habeas petitions to secure the release of immigrant adults from detention, as well as preparing habeas cases for placement with pro bono partners. This assistance may include legal research, phone interviews with clients in detention, evidence collection, and collaboration with community advocacy groups.

Resources, Trainings, and Practice Advisories

The Legal Intern may help the Lab develop its website resources, conduct trainings, and draft practice advisories to support and educate attorneys who work with immigrants in detention. This may include working on crimmigration case analyses to assist criminal defense attorneys in Virginia and Maryland and developing our public resources that are available on our website and by request.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

To be considered for the internship, please fill out the application link below and attach the following materials in .pdf format to your Paylocity application.

• A cover letter indicating your interest in the position. Please describe what experiences, personal and professional, have motivated you to apply.
• A resume;
• At least 2 references; and
• A writing sample. In addition to legal memoranda and briefs, research papers and articles are accepted. Only one writing sample is required and preferred.

Please apply to ONLY ONE department within Amica Center. For example, if you apply for this internship with the Immigration Impact Lab, please do not also apply for an internship with the Detained Adult Program. Please choose the department that best matches your preference, skills, and experience.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Internship application will be open until February 21, 2025.

Qualifications:

• A current second or third-year law student. Evening students are also welcome to apply
• Ability to commit a minimum of 15 hours a week
• Strong legal research, communication, and writing skills
• Strong organizational and time-management skills and willingness to work quickly and effectively with a team
• Experience and interest in working in the area of immigration law, immigrants’ rights, or related fields like social justice and advocacy
• Competency and comfort in working with adults and children from low socio-economic backgrounds, histories of trauma and previous interactions with the criminal justice system
• Background in community organizing/political lobbying is a plus but not required
• Spanish fluency is preferred but not required. Fluency in other languages, such as French, Portuguese, or Arabic, is welcome

Required Resources:

• A laptop or computer (*);
• Reliable internet; and
• A phone

*Amica Center may be able to provide access to a temporary laptop as needed.