Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Spring 2013 Internships

Passing along an announcement about internship opportunities from our friends at AALDEF

For Undergraduate, Graduate, and Law Students

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is the first organization on the East Coast to protect and promote the legal rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy, and community education.  For more information about AALDEF, please visit our website at www.aaldef.org.

Spring internships are available for the following program areas (open to all unless otherwise noted):

AALDEF Fundraising Events, provide administrative support in preparation for AALDEF’s annual gala.  Computer experience with databases, graphics and web programs are helpful. **Undergraduate students ONLY.  Workstudy grants accepted.**

Anti-Trafficking Initiative: Legal research and writing, organizing/outreach, and legal advocacy for trafficked clients pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and other related legislation.  Fluency in Indonesian, Hindi, or Bangla highly preferred.  **Law students ONLY. 

Economic Justice for Workers: Provide legal advocacy, direct representation, and community education on behalf of Asian immigrant workers experiencing wage-and-hour, retaliation, and workplace safety violations in the restaurant, beauty/nail salon, and domestic worker industries, among others.  Undergraduate interns will perform research and community outreach.  Fluency in a second language is highly preferred.

Educational Equity and Youth Rights: legal services, policy work, community education, research and litigation concerning educational equity, juvenile justice, language access, student free-speech and police surveillance, and anti-Asian harassment.

Housing & Environmental Justice Project: community outreach/education, research, and litigation on gentrification and other land use issues affecting low-income and Asian immigrant communities.

Immigrant Access to Justice: litigation, legal services, and organizing/outreach with communities impacted by 9-11 immigration and law enforcement policies.  An additional emphasis on Asian communities’ access to representation and education about immigration policies and practices that may impact them including unconstitutional DHS stops, new deferred action policies for youth, and secured communities.

Voting Rights: legal research and fact development under the Voting Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause challenging anti-Asian voter discrimination, advocacy on bilingual ballots, and the redrawing of local, state and federal district lines; produce reports and organize public forums; assist in organizing legal trainings.

Description of Internships.
Interns are supervised by attorneys and/or AALDEF staff in specific program areas.  These internships are not paid positions, but academic credit can be arranged.  Interns work anywhere between 8 to 25 hours per week.   Internships usually commence with the start of classes (end of January) through late April/early May.

To Apply:
Any bilingual ability should be stated in the resume.  Bilingual ability is helpful but not required.  Applications should also state the number of hours the intern is able to work per week and which program area(s) you are interested in.  Email applications are accepted.  Deadline December 3, 2012, applications received after deadline will be considered on a rolling basis.  Send a resume and cover letter (law students should include a writing sample) to:

AALDEF Spring Intern Search
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
99 Hudson Street, 12th floor, New York, New York 10013-2815
Fax: 212-966-4303 or Email: [email protected]

For more information, contact Jennifer Weng at 212-966-5932, ext. 212 or [email protected].

Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan Re-elected to NAPABA Judicial Council

We received the following update from Monica Cheng, Assistant Law Clerk to the Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan:

At its recent annual meeting of the National APA Judges (NAPABA Judicial Council) held in Washington D.C., Justice Doris Ling Cohan (Supreme Court, New York County) was re-elected President, Judge Denny Chin (2nd Cir. Court of Appeals) was re-elected Treasurer, and Judge Marilyn Go (Magistrate Judge, EDNY) was elected Secretary.  Their dinner was hosted by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court, at which she did a short program with Hon. Goodwin Liu (Associate Justice, CA Supreme Court), her former law clerk.

Congratulations to the Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, the Hon. Denny Chin and the Hon. Marilyn Go.

Rochester Legal Diversity Clerkship Program

Rochester Legal Diversity Clerkship Program

SDNY offers Trial Advocacy Training for Pro Bono Lawyers

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is pleased to offer a full-day trial advocacy training for pro bono lawyers. Led by District Court judges and leading practitioners, this training is offered to lawyers who are admitted to practice in the Southern District and are interested in providing pro bono representation to pro se litigants.

The program takes place on Friday, January 11, 2013 and runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse (500 Pearl Street, Room 850).

The training is free and will offer participants an opportunity to receive CLE credit for their participation. For more information, please download the PDF here.

Celebrate the Season at Asia Society

The Asia Society (725 Park Avenue) will be holding a holiday party on Friday, December 7, 2012, from 6-9 p.m. Click here for details and directions.

Experience Asia Society with a free night of fun & culture, including:

  • Free museum tours at 6:30 and 7:30 of Bound Unbound: Lin Tianmiao
  • Live Music, Tea Tastings & Artisan Demonstrations
  • Holiday Leo Bar, including specially priced ‘Leotinis’
  • Discounts at AsiaStore and on Membership

Penn MLSA Seventh Annual Muslim Law Conference

The University of Pennsylvania Muslim Law Students Association (Penn MLSA) will host its Seventh Annual Muslim Law Conference on February 16, 2013.  Legal employers interested in recruiting diverse applicants are encouraged to join in this event. Please click here to download a copy of the flyer.

Penn MLSA organizes this conference each year for the dual purpose of assisting Muslim law students entering the legal field and educating the broader community about legal issues pertaining to the Muslim community.  This year’s gathering will include speeches from prominent attorneys involved in issues pertaining to the Muslim community at the local, state, and national levels.  Supported by the national branch of Muslim Law Students Association, attendants will range from university leadership to legal experts, practitioners, and policy advocates from around the country.

The conference will also include a career fair for students. As of now, Penn MLSA is looking for employers who would like to attend and offer information to prospective interns.  Organizations and employers interested in attending can contact Haider Sultan, President of Penn MLSA, at (860) 918-6560 or [email protected]

USCIS Teleconference: Use of Interpreters in USCIS Interview

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites interested parties to participate in a stakeholder teleconference on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 from 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (Eastern) to discuss the use of interpreters in USCIS domestic field office interviews.

During this engagement, USCIS will outline its current guidance related to the use of interpreters and discuss anticipated policy development regarding the use of interpreters at USCIS domestic field office interviews. The discussion will focus on who may be eligible to serve as an interpreter and we will seek stakeholder feedback on possible exceptions to this general policy.

To Participate in the Session

Please email the Public Engagement Division no later than Monday, December 10, 2012 at [email protected] and in the subject line of your email, reference “Interpreters.”

To Join the Session

On the day of the engagement, please use the information below to join the session by telephone.

Call-in Number: 800-779-9654

Passcode: Interpreters

http://www.uscis.gov/outreach 

Access to Information for Asylee Eligibility for ORR Assistance and Services

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has moved from a telephone Hotline to a web-based interface to offer information for asylees seeking benefits and services supported by ORR.  Please note that the toll-free Asylee Hotline number listed on the asylum grant letter is no longer in service.

Instead, please visit the ORR website, where you will find the poster below, with a link to “Asylee Eligibility for Assistance and Services”, and fact sheets in eight languages (plus English).

Contact information for local service providers can be found on the ORR Map; click your state for full details.

Please visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr for more information, and distribute widely within your networks.