Country’s First Post-Graduate Fellowship in Immigration Law Announced & Accepting Applications for 2014
The Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) is the largest expansion of immigration legal services in New York City’s history and the first fellowship program in the country dedicated to the provision of high-quality immigration legal assistance. Inspired by Chief Judge Robert Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the IJC recruits talented new lawyers and college graduates from around the country and partners them with New York City’s leading non-profit legal services providers and community-based organizations to offer a broad range of immigration assistance, including naturalization, deportation defense, and applications for asylum seekers, juveniles, and victims of crime, domestic violence or human trafficking.
Beginning in 2014, the IJC will offer two types of fellowships annually: Justice Fellowships for recent law graduates and Community Fellowships for college graduates. Applications for 2014 Justice Fellowships will be accepted on a rolling basis from February 1, 2014 until March 1, 2014. Applications for Community Fellowships will open in the spring. For more information on eligibility for the Justice Fellowship and program details, please see below.
Structure of the Justice Fellowship Program
The IJC will award Justice Fellowships to recent law graduates and law clerks from around the country – individuals with tremendous talent and promise and a demonstrated commitment to provide legal services for the poor and for immigrants. Fellows will be hosted in clusters of 2-4 in New York City’s leading non-profit legal services offices, which will be selected to participate in the IJC on a competitive the basis. Upon selection, Fellows will have the opportunity to indicate their preferences for the host organization where they will work, though the IJC will, ultimately, make placement decisions. Justice Fellows will represent immigrants with the most complex cases that require lawyers to handle the case from start to finish, such as deportation defense and affirmative petitions for victims of crime, domestic violence and human trafficking, among others. The Justice Fellows will be primarily supervised by experienced attorneys at their host organization, with supplemental support from the IJC’s own supervisory staff.Benefits
Justice Fellowships run for two years, with the option of renewing for a third year based on performance. During the two years of the fellowship, $47,000 of the Fellows’ salaries as well as benefits will be covered by the IJC, along with loan repayment assistance for law school loans. During the third year of the fellowship, for those selected, salaries will be increased to reflect greater experience. In addition, Fellows will participate in a comprehensive immigration law training program at the start of their fellowship and, throughout the course of the fellowship, will meet bi-weekly as a group for professional development activities, skills trainings, case sharing, reflection sessions and other programmatic activities organized by the IJC staff. At the end of the fellowship, IJC Fellows will be extraordinarily well trained, deeply networked in the legal and immigrant rights community, and profoundly committed to developing creative strategies to fight poverty and ensure access to justice.Eligibility & Application Process
You must be a law student graduating in the Spring/Summer of 2014 or a law clerk completing your clerkship by Summer 2014 in order to be eligible for a Justice Fellowship beginning in September 2014. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on March 1, 2014 and must be submitted via the IJC website: www.justicecorps.org. Finalists will be interviewed in New York City or via video conference for applicants who are unable to travel to New York City. Fellows will be informed of their selection in March 2014.Applicants will be asked to submit:
- A resume
- Three letters of recommendation, including at least one academic reference and at least one from a prior employer or someone who can speak to the quality of your work in a professional setting (internships, work study and term-time employers are absolutely fine).
- A statement of interest no longer than 500 words describing why you would like to be a part of the IJC Justice or Community Fellowship Program. Questions to consider in drafting the Statement of Interest include: Why are you interested in immigration? How might an IJC Fellowship prepare you for the career you may want to have in the future?
- A short essay no longer than 500 words describing the skills and experiences that have prepared you for work with immigrant communities in New York. Please do not reiterate your resume in this essay response. Instead, be specific about how 2-3 skills or experiences will be relevant to the work you anticipate you will do as a Fellow.
