Each year IJC awards Justice Fellowships to recent law graduates from around the country – individuals with tremendous talent, promise, and a demonstrated commitment to providing legal services for low income people and immigrants.

IJC trains Justice Fellows to become experts in immigration law and pairs them with leading non-profit legal services providers and community based organizations. IJC matches selected Fellows with our partnering host organizations based on the applicant’s experience and interest, gaps in services within the community, location interests, and partnering host organizations’ needs. 

Unaccompanied Children Program in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice and Acacia Center for Justice

IJC recently partnered with the Vera Institute of Justice and Acacia Center for Justice to place Justice Fellows with Vera’s network of legal service providers across the country as part of Vera’s Unaccompanied Children Program. 

This new program will start in September 2023. 

There is high demand for Justice Fellows to provide quality legal services to unaccompanied children in removal proceedings. Applicants with an interest in preserving the rights of migrant children are strongly encouraged to apply.

Unaccompanied Children Program Eligibility Requirements:

• Applicants interested in the Unaccompanied Children Program must be law graduates
• Applicants must have graduated no earlier than Spring 2020
• Spanish fluency strongly preferred, though language supports will be provided for those working towards proficiency
• At the time of selection must have authorization to work in the United States for two years

All IJC Fellows serve for two years and are provided with a full salary and benefits.

Application Components:

NOTE: Every component of your application must be submitted by the deadline of April 28, 2023 at 11:59 PM EST

• Résumé (no more than two pages)

• PDF of your law school transcript (unofficial)

• Statement of Interest (500 words or less): Describe why you would like to be an IJC Justice Fellow.  Questions to consider in drafting the Statement of Interest include:

  • Why are you interested in immigration law?

  • How might an IJC Fellowship prepare you for the career you want to have in the future?

  • Why, specifically, are you interested in participating in a fellowship program, versus a staff attorney role?

  • What skills and experiences have prepared you for work with immigrant communities?

• Essay Question (500 words or less): At the core of IJC’s mission is the goal of increasing access to counsel.  If you could design a universal representation system for immigrant courts nationwide what would it look like? Who would qualify for representation and why and what mechanisms would you recommend for appointing counsel?

When setting up your account you will be asked to enter a name for your submission – PLEASE USE YOUR FULL NAME (LAST, FIRST) AS THE SUBMISSION TITLE.  

Submitting Letters of Recommendation:

• Within the application portal, you will need to enter email addresses for two references who will each submit a letter on your behalf.

• Once you enter your recommender’s email address into the system, they will be sent an email with a link to create an account and submit their letter of reference on your behalf.  We strongly recommend that you immediately follow up with your recommender to make sure they receive the email. Frequently, recommender notifications are routed to spam, therefore please be sure to notify your recommenders to check both their inbox and spam folders. The system will automatically remind recommenders to submit their letters several days before the application deadline, however, we also encourage you to send them a note to remind them of the upcoming deadline.

• If your recommender does not receive the email link, please use the Apply support feature (embedded in the "i" button in the upper right hand corner of the navigation bar). As a last resort, you may also contact IJC at fellowship@justicecorps.org. 

• You will be able to submit your application before both letters of reference have been uploaded to the system, however, out of fairness to all applicants, we will not review your application until it has been completed.  We will not grant application deadline extensions for letters of recommendation.

Again, every component of your application must be submitted by the deadline of April 28, 2023 at 11:59 p.m., EST, including your reference letters, so please reach out to your references early and often and let them know to expect an email requesting a reference on your behalf.  

The Selection Process:

1. All Justice Fellow applications and supporting documents are due on April 28, 2023 at 11:59PM EST.

2. Application review: a selection committee gathers to review all Justice Fellow applications and makes recommendations to IJC staff in early May. IJC staff reviews applications recommended by the selection committee and schedules interviews with prospective Justice Fellows.

3. Interviews: Brief, 30 to 40-minute interviews are held early-to-mid May via remote videocalls. 

4. Matching: IJC staff select finalists from the interview pool. We then solicit input from Justice Fellow finalists and finalist host organizations regarding their preferred matches. That information is used to appropriately match host organizations and applicants via tentative offers made late May to early June.

5. Offers: In June 2023, offer letters are sent to selected Fellows.

For technical concerns please use the Apply support feature (embedded in the "i" button in the upper right hand corner of the navigation bar). For application questions, you may contact us at fellowship@justicecorps.org.   

To learn more about Immigrant Justice Corps visit our website: www.justicecorps.org.

Informational Webinar

Justice Fellowship Info Session

Tuesday, April 11th at 2:00PM EST

Register here!