Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is a nonprofit organization located in Norcross, Georgia. Advancing Justice-Atlanta is the first and largest nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast. Founded in 2010 as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center (AALAC), our organization became part of the national Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation in 2014.
The Impact Litigation department investigates and pursues civil rights litigation that seeks to protect and empower immigrants, refugees, and people of color. The litigation team combines civil rights litigation with other strategies to expand legal protections for AANHPI and other marginalized communities and to advocate against unjust, oppressive laws and policies. The primary focus is on immigrant justice and voting rights. Outside of the courtroom, AAAJ uses tools like community education and policy advocacy to advance community-driven social and political movements. In our immigrant justice work, we fight to free people from immigration detention. Extern tasks in Impact Litigation may include: legal research and writing; interviewing clients and witnesses; preparing and reviewing declarations; reviewing discovery; drafting public records requests; analyzing legislation; conducting history and policy research; participating in coalition calls/meetings; drafting community advisories; assisting with community activism and educational activities; and more.
The Legal Services department is dedicated to empowering AANHPI and AMEMSA communities in Georgia and the Southeast through robust legal advocacy, education, and community-driven partnerships. The multilingual team provides comprehensive, high-quality immigration legal services to immigrant communities, by assisting low-income immigrants in obtaining lawful status, becoming citizens, and defending against deportation. They provide direct representation before the Immigration Court, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and other immigration agencies. The Legal Services Department also seeks to empower immigrants through free immigration legal application assistance clinics, Know-Your-Rights workshops, and community education programs. Extern tasks in Legal Services may include: interviewing clients and observing legal consultations; assisting with interpretations or translations; participating in client interview or hearing preparations; drafting client affidavits; conducting legal and other research such as country conditions research; preparing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests; drafting cover letters, pleadings and motions, legal briefs, and other documents; preparing immigration forms and assembling immigration applications; assisting with community programming such as legal clinics and Know Your Rights presentations; and more.
Preferred qualifications: Previous exposure or experience in immigration law is preferred, but not required. Fluency in languages other than English preferred (particularly Korean, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic, and/or Spanish). Prior experience working with or ties to low-income communities of color and/or immigrant or refugee communities is also preferred.
short writing sample (10 pages or less); students should preference either the Litigation Impact or Legal Services Department in their statement of interest.