2024 Immigrant Defense Legal Fellow (externally funded, i.e. Skadden, Equal Justice Works, or other)

This position is open to rising 3Ls or others who would be eligible for public interest fellowships.

Please note: This is an opportunity for Project ANAR to host a fellow through an externally funded fellowship position, including ones that may be provided by your law school.

Project ANAR seeks an Afghan Immigrant Defense Legal Fellow, to focus on work related to Afghans at the Southern Border, and those in immigrant detention or in non-detained removal proceedings. This position is primarily remote, with the expectation of willingness to travel to the asylum office and immigration court, and detention centers, as needed, as well as to in-person organizational events in the Bay Area, California 2-3 times a year. Project ANAR’s in person work is primarily in San Francisco, Fremont, and the East Bay, California.

Organizational background: Project ANAR is an Afghan community immigration Justice organization, co-founded and led by Afghan American women, and other immigrants and children of immigrants. Project ANAR works nationally to advocate for pathways to family reunification and refuge for Afghans outside the U.S., permanent legal status for those in the U.S., and ultimately, an end to the systems that displace Afghans. Project ANAR’s work consists of legal services, community education, and advocacy. Our direct legal services work is primarily focused in Northern California,with some work in the Washington, DC area and other parts of the country as needed. Project ANAR began out of necessity as a legal services mutual aid effort to assist the team’s loved ones seeking a pathway to refuge in August 2021, particularly through Humanitarian Parole applications. Our legal services work presently focuses on assisting the hundreds of Afghan parolees in our region who are set to run out of temporary legal status between August and September 2023, and need outreach, education, and direct legal assistance to pursue asylum, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and other pathways. We also increasingly track issues faced by and offer assistance to Afghans who arrive via the Southern Border and find themselves detained in ICE custody and/or in removal proceedings in and out of detention. Project ANAR approaches all of its work through the lens of seeking an end to the systems that have displaced Afghans. We engage in collaborative grassroots advocacy projects with this goal in mind.

As an Afghan community organization, we also advocate more broadly for our diaspora community, in coalition with other community organizations, immigration organizations, and others. That work has included an amicus brief challenging the seizure of Afghan assets, and co-hosting a town hall to hold government officials accountable to answering our community’s questions.

Project ANAR is a project fiscally sponsored by Pangea Legal Services, a 501(c)3 non-profit immigration organization based in San Francisco, CA. We lead our own work and mirror their horizontal leadership and pay structure and pay all of our staff equally, regardless of background or education level.

Project ANAR’s team works primarily remotely, but does limited in person client work in the San Francisco Bay Area, usually every 2 weeks.

Description: The immigrant defense legal fellow will develop a project and submit proposals for funding to external fellowship funders, including Skadden and Equal Justice Works.This position is currently contingent upon obtaining external funding. Project ANAR will provide additional compensation and full benefits, including health care, dental, and unlimited vacation days. Project ANAR will consider other potential funding sources that to which the Candidate may seek to apply.

The Legal Fellow will focus primarily on the needs and issues facing Afghans arriving in the U.S. via the southern border, including direct representation, advocacy, and litigation needs related to Afghans being detained in ICE custody and being placed in removal proceedings. The Legal Fellow will develop defensive strategies for Afghans in these positions, and work with the Project ANAR team to expand its resources and programming for this population, as well as to develop our pro bono project and expand our capacity to meet the needs of this population of Afghans. The Legal Fellow can utilize a combination of direct services, litigation, and advocacy strategies in their proposed project. The Fellow will be supervised by two full time immigration attorneys.

Benefits and compensation: ANAR offers generous benefits and a flexible work schedule. The fellow will be compensated through external funding and ANAR will assess its capacity to match the fellow’s pay with our pay scale. This position can be remote.

Responsibilities:
- Understanding and knowledge of asylum law and immigration law, particularly as it relates to Afghan clients
- Ability to assess for multiple forms of immigration relief
- Completing client intakes
- Defensive asylum applications (I-589s and Immigration Court)
- Bond filings and parole requests for detained Afghans
- Interviewing clients and drafting declarations for their asylum cases
- Reviewing volunteer and legal assistant created drafts of asylum applications and client declarations
- Coordinating legal visitation and engaging in direct advocacy with ICE on behalf of clients
- Conducting country conditions and immigration case law research
- Conducting Know Your Rights legal presentations
- Monitoring trends and changes related to US immigration policy towards Afghans
- Developing legal resources and materials
- Volunteer coordination and supervision
- Assisting in advocacy and litigation projects
- Working with team of attorneys, legal assistants, volunteers, and other interns
- Coalition and collaborative work
- Attending weekly team meetings and individual check ins
- Working with interpreters and translators
- Contribute to the growth and development of a start-up collectively run organization

Requirements:
- Prior law school coursework and practical experience in immigration law
- 1-2 years of immigration law experience
- Admission and good standing to the bar in any state (or taking the 2023 bar exam)
- Ability to work remotely and to join regular meetings multiple times a week
- Familiarity with Google suite
- Commitment to trauma-informed client interactions
- Ability to track news and trends related to Afghan immigration and to adapt to changing policies
- Commitment to teamwork and collaboration
- Strong communication skills
Dari, Farsi, and/or Pashto fluency (oral and written, but particularly oral) strongly preferred, English required
- Can be based anywhere with a preference for Washington, DC, California, Texas, or the mid-Atlantic, and willing to travel to the Bay Area, California 1-2 times a year

In your cover letter for this position, please mention what sources of funding you will be seeking out.

PRIORITY DEADLINE: JANUARY 12, 2024

Interns are expected to work roughly 35 hours a week and start on or around June 3, for 8 weeks. Details can be finalized based upon individual semester schedules.

Project ANAR seeks a remote or DC-based legal intern for Afghan Immigration Advocacy. This position may include a small amount of direct client facing work including interviews and immigration applications.

Organizational background: Project ANAR is an Afghan community immigration Justice organization, co-founded and led by Afghan American women. Project ANAR works nationally to advocate for pathways to family reunification and refuge for Afghans outside the U.S., permanent legal status for those in the U.S., and ultimately, an end to the systems that displace Afghans. Project ANAR’s work consists of legal services, community education, and advocacy. Our direct legal services work is primarily focused in Northern California. Project ANAR began out of necessity as a legal services mutual aid effort to assist our own loved ones seeking a pathway to refuge in August 2021, particularly through Humanitarian Parole applications. With few pathways left, our community members have increasingly been arriving as asylum-seekers via the Southern Border and find themselves detained in ICE custody and/or otherwise in removal proceedings. We offer legal services and advocacy alongside this population, and pursue permanent legal status and family reunification for evacuees. As an Afghan community organization, we also advocate more broadly for our diaspora community, in coalition with other community organizations, immigration organizations, and others. Past work has included an amicus brief challenging the seizure of Afghan assets, and co-hosting a town hall to hold government officials accountable to answering our community’s questions. Project ANAR is a project fiscally sponsored by Pangea Legal Services, a 501(c)3 non-profit immigration organization based in San Francisco, CA. We lead our own work and mirror their horizontal leadership and pay structure. Project ANAR’s team works primarily remotely, with regular in-person community and client work.

Description: Project ANAR approaches all of its work through the lens of seeking an end to the systems that have displaced Afghans. We engage in collaborative grassroots advocacy projects with this goal in mind. Our advocacy work has included campaigns around Afghan Humanitarian Parole, seized Afghan assets, legal pathways for Afghans in the U.S., and others.

Our immigration advocacy intern will work on projects related to one or several of these ongoing campaigns, and potentially assist in the development of a new campaign. Intern will assist in the collection, aggregation, synthesis and review of substantive and quantitative data to inform campaigns. Intern will speak directly with clients and help collect client stories for advocacy purposes.

The intern will develop legal complaints and conduct research in support of litigation along with ANAR’s attorneys. The Intern will also have the opportunity to engage in ANAR’s direct services work as a means of informing their advocacy and understanding ANAR’s overall work. Interns will have an opportunity to engage in coalition work with other organizations, and contribute to the development of Project ANAR resources.

Responsibilities:

+ Completing client intakes

+ Completing surveys with clients to follow up on case status and track advocacy issues

+ Synthesizing data to assess trends

+ Reviewing data obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests

+ Drafting and submitting Freedom of Information Act requests

+ Drafting client declarations for use in advocacy and litigation projects

+ Conducting legal research

+ Assisting in the drafting of civil rights complaints, including complaints to the DHS office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

+ Drafting parole and release requests and the possibility of assisting in individual case advocacy for individuals detained in ICE custody

+ Tracking issues related to immigration pathways for Afghans, immigration detention and border policies

+ Assisting as needed on other advocacy related to issues impacting Afghans, including supporting with ongoing work related to ANAR’s campaigns that seek broader accountability for harm caused to Afghans following decades of US war and occupation

Requirements:

+ Prior law school coursework and/or practical experience in immigration law

+ Ability to work remotely and to join regular weekly meetings

+ Familiarity with Google Suite

+ Commitment to trauma-informed client interactions

+ Ability to track news and trends related to Afghan immigration and to adapt to changing policies

+ Commitment to teamwork and collaboration

+ Strong communication skills

+Dari, Farsi, and/or Pashto fluency (oral and written, but particularly oral) strongly preferred

PRIORITY DEADLINE: JANUARY 12, 2024

Interns are expected to work roughly 35 hours a week and start on or around June 3, for 8 weeks. Details can be finalized based upon individual semester schedules.

Must be based in Northern California.

Project ANAR seeks summer interns for Afghan immigration legal services. This position is hybrid, with most work conducted remotely and weekly/monthly in-person client work in the Bay Area, California. Law students will be prioritized but undergraduates are eligible.

Organizational background: Project ANAR is an Afghan community immigration Justice organization, co-founded and led by Afghan American women. Project ANAR works nationally to advocate for pathways to family reunification and refuge for Afghans outside the U.S., permanent legal status for those in the U.S., and ultimately, an end to the systems that displace Afghans. Project ANAR’s work consists of legal services, community education, and advocacy. Our direct legal services work is primarily focused in Northern California. Project ANAR began out of necessity as a legal services mutual aid effort to assist our own loved ones seeking a pathway to refuge in August 2021, particularly through Humanitarian Parole applications. With few pathways left, our community members have increasingly been arriving as asylum-seekers via the Southern Border and find themselves detained in ICE custody and/or otherwise in removal proceedings. We offer legal services and advocacy alongside this population, and pursue permanent legal status and family reunification for evacuees. As an Afghan community organization, we also advocate more broadly for our diaspora community, in coalition with other community organizations, immigration organizations, and others. Past work has included an amicus brief challenging the seizure of Afghan assets, and co-hosting a town hall to hold government officials accountable to answering our community’s questions. Project ANAR is a project fiscally sponsored by Pangea Legal Services, a 501(c)3 non-profit immigration organization based in San Francisco, CA. We lead our own work and mirror their horizontal leadership and pay structure. Project ANAR’s team works primarily remotely, with regular in-person community and client work.

Logistics: Interns are expected to work 35 hours a week. We encourage interns to seek external funding for their internships or class credit. ANAR plans to provide a $3,000 stipend for summer interns not receiving school credit and enourages external funding as well.

Description:

The Bay Area and D.C. areas are some of the primary resettlement locations for Afghans in the U.S.

Interns will assist with attorney and legal assistant work, and/or take on tasks that attorneys and legal assistants conduct, including client screenings and intakes, working on asylum applications, legal research, Temporary Protected Status Applications, Adjustment of Status applications, and/or assisting in defensive asylum/removal proceedings cases and detained immigration cases.

Interns may also assist with family reunification cases, including humanitarian parole and refugee follow-to-join petitions. Interns may also assist with other projects as needed, including some advocacy projects and community outreach and education efforts.

Interns will have an opportunity to engage in coalition work with other organizations, and contribute to the development of Project ANAR resources.

Interns will also contribute to advocacy work, and advocacy-focused interns will focus primarily on movement-building and organizing-focused resources, research, and contribute to litigation-related work or civil rights complaints and FOIAs.

Responsibilities:

+ Completing client intakes

+ Drafting asylum applications (I-589s)

+ Interviewing clients and drafting declarations for their asylum cases

+ Conducting country conditions research

+ Assisting clients with individual advocacy and following up with clients to collect data and assess case outcomes

+ Assisting in Know Your Rights legal presentations

+ Monitoring trends and changes related to US immigration policy

+ Assisting in other types of immigration applications as needed, including parole, Temporary Protected Status, and other Immigration Court related items

+ Assisting in development of legal resources and materials

+ Assisting in advocacy and litigation projects

+ Working with team of attorneys, legal assistants, volunteers, and other interns

+ Attending weekly team check ins and individual check ins with supervising attorney

+ Coalition meetings and community engagements

Requirements:

+ Prior law school coursework and/or practical experience in immigration law

+ Ability to work remotely and to join regular weekly meetings

+ Familiarity with Google Suite

+ Commitment to trauma-informed client interactions

+ Ability to track news and trends related to Afghan immigration and to adapt to changing policies

+ Commitment to teamwork and collaboration

+ Strong communication skills

+ Dari, Farsi, and/or Pashto fluency (oral and written, but particularly oral) strongly preferred

Must be based in Northern California, the D.C. area, with remote interns considered for limited detention and advocacy-focused roles.

PRIORITY DEADLINE: JANUARY 12, 2024

Spring interns are expected to work roughly 15 hours a week and start on or around January 15, 2023, for 12 weeks. Details can be finalized based upon individual semester schedules.

Summer interns expected to work roughly 35 hours a week and start on or around June 3, for 8 weeks. Details can be finalized based upon individual semester schedules.

MUST BE BASED IN THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA/DC REGION

Project ANAR is an Afghan community immigration Justice organization, co-founded and led by Afghan American women. Project ANAR works nationally to advocate for pathways to family reunification and refuge for Afghans outside the U.S., permanent legal status for those in the U.S., and ultimately, an end to the systems that displace Afghans. Project ANAR’s work consists of legal services, community education, and advocacy. Our direct legal services work is primarily focused in Northern California. Project ANAR began out of necessity as a legal services mutual aid effort to assist our own loved ones seeking a pathway to refuge in August 2021, particularly through Humanitarian Parole applications. With few pathways left, our community members have increasingly been arriving as asylum-seekers via the Southern Border and find themselves detained in ICE custody and/or otherwise in removal proceedings. We offer legal services and advocacy alongside this population, and pursue permanent legal status and family reunification for evacuees. As an Afghan community organization, we also advocate more broadly for our diaspora community, in coalition with other community organizations, immigration organizations, and others. Past work has included an amicus brief challenging the seizure of Afghan assets, and co-hosting a town hall to hold government officials accountable to answering our community’s questions. Project ANAR is a project fiscally sponsored by Pangea Legal Services, a 501(c)3 non-profit immigration organization based in San Francisco, CA. We lead our own work and mirror their horizontal leadership and pay structure. Project ANAR’s team works primarily remotely, with regular in-person community and client work.

Logistics: Interns are expected to work 15 hours a week during the semester, and 35 hours a week during the summer. We encourage interns to seek external funding for their internships or class credit. ANAR plans to provide $3,000 stipends to summer interns as well.

Description:

The Bay Area and D.C. areas are some of the primary resettlement locations for Afghans in the U.S.

Interns will assist with attorney and legal assistant work, and/or take on tasks that attorneys and legal assistants conduct, including client screenings and intakes, working on asylum applications, legal research, Temporary Protected Status Applications, Adjustment of Status applications, and/or assisting in defensive asylum/removal proceedings cases and detained immigration cases.

Interns may also assist with family reunification cases, including humanitarian parole and refugee follow-to-join petitions. Interns may also assist with other projects as needed, including some advocacy projects and community outreach and education efforts.

Interns will have an opportunity to engage in coalition work with other organizations, and contribute to the development of Project ANAR resources.

Interns will also contribute to advocacy work, and advocacy-focused interns will focus primarily on movement-building and organizing-focused resources, research, and contribute to litigation-related work or civil rights complaints and FOIAs.

Responsibilities:

+ Completing client intakes

+ Drafting asylum applications (I-589s)

+ Interviewing clients and drafting declarations for their asylum cases

+ Conducting country conditions research

+ Assisting clients with individual advocacy and following up with clients to collect data and assess case outcomes

+ Assisting in Know Your Rights legal presentations

+ Monitoring trends and changes related to US immigration policy

+ Assisting in other types of immigration applications as needed, including parole, Temporary Protected Status, and other Immigration Court related items

+ Assisting in development of legal resources and materials

+ Assisting in advocacy and litigation projects

+ Working with team of attorneys, legal assistants, volunteers, and other interns

+ Attending weekly team check ins and individual check ins with supervising attorney

+ Coalition meetings and community engagements

Requirements:

+ Prior law school coursework and/or practical experience in immigration law

+ Ability to work remotely and to join regular weekly meetings

+ Familiarity with Google Suite

+ Commitment to trauma-informed client interactions

+ Ability to track news and trends related to Afghan immigration and to adapt to changing policies

+ Commitment to teamwork and collaboration

+ Strong communication skills

+ Dari, Farsi, and/or Pashto fluency (oral and written, but particularly oral) strongly preferred

Must be based in Northern Virginia/the DC/DMV area.