Intern, Immigration Law Unit

National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 45,000 - 67,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Scholarship funding up to $6,440

Job summary

Legal Aid DC, a nonprofit organization, seeks a Summer Intern for the Immigration Law Unit for Summer 2027. The internship runs for 10 weeks, from May 27 to August 6, with full-time hours (40/week).

Office work is primarily in NW DC, with optional remote work subject to supervisor approval, and local travel for events. Intern will gain substantive assignments with mentors and supervision from a Senior Immigration Attorney, including research, drafting, and case development to support clients

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth legal research on immigration law, including humanitarian relief such as asylum, U visas, T visas, SIJS, TPS and DACA.
• Assist attorneys with case development, including drafting briefs and pleadings, country conditions research, and gathering primary evidence.
• Review and analyze case documents, statutes, regulations, and precedent to support arguments and strategies.
• Interact with clients, witnesses, and experts to gather information, draft declarations, and assist in form filling.
• Attend court hearings or USCIS interviews to observe and assist attorneys as appropriate.
• Provide administrative support: organizing case files, scheduling, and handling correspondence.
• Collaborate with other interns, attorneys, and advocacy groups to support social justice and systemic change.

Job description

Legal Aid DC, a nonprofit organization with an approximately $18 million annual budget and a staff of approximately 125 employees, is seeking a Summer Intern to join our Immigration Law Unit.

Since 1932, Legal Aid has provided civil legal assistance to clients in individual cases and engaged in systemic reform. Currently, we provide individual representation in consumer law, domestic violence/family law, housing, public benefits, and immigration matters. We also help people with the collateral consequences of their involvement with the criminal justice system. From the experiences of our clients, we identify opportunities for law reform, public policy advocacy, and systemic impact and appellate litigation. Legal Aid also administers the DC Resource Bridge, a single access point for legal services in the District.

Legal Aid believes that meaningful pursuit of our anti-poverty mission requires an unwavering commitment to racial justice and equity. We aspire both to reflect the rich racial diversity of the communities we serve and to value, respect, and empower our staff and clients to be effective agents of change. For more information about Legal Aid please visit our website, www.LegalAidDC.org.

Our work is supported through public and private grants and private fundraising from individuals, law firms, and other contributors.

Interns at Legal Aid DC have the unique opportunity to receive substantive assignments that will have an immediate impact on our clients. This internship is for Summer 2027 and will be 10 weeks in duration. Summer interns should expect to work full-time (40 hours per week). Interns mainly work out of Legal Aid’s NW DC office, with the option to perform some work remotely if approved by their supervisor. Summer interns may be required to perform duties off site, and will be required to travel locally for summer programming events.

The summer term is from May 27th through August 6th.

The intern will be part of the Immigration Unit, which currently consists of attorneys and a legal assistant. The intern will work under an assigned mentor within the Unit, with supervision to be provided by a Senior Immigration Attorney.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth legal research on a wide range of issues relevant to immigration law, with a focus on humanitarian relief such as asylum, the U & T visas, special immigrant juvenile status, TPS and DACA.
• Assist attorneys with case development, including drafting legal briefs and pleadings, conducting country conditions research and obtaining primary evidence.
• Review and analyze case-related documents, statutes, regulations, and precedent to support legal arguments and strategies.
• Interact with clients, witnesses, and experts to gather information, draft declarations and assist in immigration form filling.
• Attend court hearings or USCIS interviews to observe and assist attorneys as appropriate.
• Provide administrative support including organizing case files, scheduling meetings, and managing correspondence.
• Collaborate with other interns, attorneys, and advocacy organizations to support collective efforts in advancing social justice and systemic change.

Scholarship Funding

Legal Aid DC can provide scholarship funding to ensure that summer law students receive no less than $6,440 per summer, including scholarships from the Lee Horton Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Public Interest Lawyers.

Required

Summer law students are required to apply for outside funding to fund their internships in order to receive supplemental scholarship funding. We will provide a scholarship up to $6,440 to summer law school interns when:

• They attend a school that does not provide funding OR they are not approved for at least $6,440 of funding from their schools
• They do not get funding from any other outside sources that gets them to total funding of $6,440 for the summer

Example: if a student receives $5,000 of outside funding, Legal Aid will pay them $1,440 in scholarship funding.

Students may waive funding if they are prohibited from receiving renumeration by their law school.