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. 

Justice Fellows represent immigrants in an array of immigration matters including:

• Removal defense
• Affirmative asylum applications
• Relief available to juveniles and victims of crime, domestic violence, or human trafficking. 

Justice Fellow General Eligibility Requirements:

• Applicants may be 3Ls or currently enrolled in an LLM program, graduating law school by the spring of 2026
• Applicants must have graduated no earlier than Spring 2024
• At the time of selection must have authorization to work in the United States for the two years of the fellowship

Application Components:

NOTE: Every component of your application must be submitted by the deadline of Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET

• Application Form

• Resume/C.V. (no more than two pages)

• PDF of your law school transcript(s) (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): We seek fellows who exhibit cultural humility, are able to translate complex doctrine and policy into plain language for immigrants, and whose beliefs are in alignment with IJC's mission and theory of change. As such, we ask you to tell us about your perspective on immigration policy in the U.S. through a response to the following prompt: What do you believe are the most critical issues facing immigrants in the United States today, and why? How would the fellowship empower you to make a difference?

• Two letters of recommendation

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.

• Your recommender may also contact IJC at recruitment@justicecorps.org for further assistance. They can send a PDF copy of their letter of recommendation to recruitment@justicecorps.org, however applicants are still required to enter their information in the system so we can upload it on the recommender's behalf. 

• You will be able to and are encouraged to submit your application even if letter(s) of reference have not been uploaded to the system.

Again, every component of your application must be submitted by the deadline of October 19, 2025 at 11:59 p.m., ET, including your recommendation 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 October 19, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

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

3. Interviews: Brief, 30-45 minute interviews are held in November via remote videocalls.

4. Matching: IJC staff select finalists from the interview pool and places some applicants on the waitlist in late November/early December. We then solicit input from finalist Justice Fellow applicants and finalist host organizations regarding their preferred matches. That information is used to appropriately match host organizations and applicants via tentative offers made in early to late December/early January. 

5. Offers: In late January 2026/early February 2026, offer letters are sent to selected Fellows.

If you have any questions about the application or selection process, you may contact us at recruitment@justicecorps.org.

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