Tag: AALDEF

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AALDEF 2013 Summer Legal Internships

ASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND
2013 SUMMER LEGAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Founded in 1974, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By combining litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.

Internships for the summer of 2013 are available in the following program areas:

Anti-Trafficking Initiative – legal research and writing on the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as outreach, community education, and advocacy on the rights of exploited and abused workers.
Community Health Care Initiative – legal research, community education and outreach in the areas of immigration, government benefits, language rights, and health care access;
Economic Justice for Workers – legal research, advocacy and direct representation on behalf of Asian immigrant workers experiencing wage-and-hour, retaliation, and workplace safety violations in the restaurant, nail salon, domestic work, and other low-wage industries.   
Educational Equity – legal services, policy work, community education, research and litigation concerning educational equity, juvenile justice, affirmative action, student free-speech and police surveillance, and anti-Asian harassment;
Housing Justice Project – community outreach/education, community planning, research, and litigation on housing and land use issues affecting low-income Asian immigrant communities;
Immigrant Access to Justice – litigation, legal services, and organizing/outreach with communities impacted by post 9/11 immigration and law enforcement policies.  An additional emphasis on Asian immigrant 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 Secure 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 Summer Internship Program:
The summer program is ten weeks, from approximately June 3 through August 9.  Interns work full-time and are supervised by attorneys in specific program areas.  Depending on the program area, interns will work on litigation, legal and policy advocacy, community outreach and education, or client intakes; each program area differs in emphasis.  Summer interns attend weekly brown bag lectures on a range of public interest legal topics along with interns from other legal defense funds and civil rights groups.  The position is unpaid.  However, in previous years many AALDEF interns have been successful at securing independent funding.  Academic credit can be arranged.

To Apply:
·   AALDEF has extended its legal internship application deadline to Friday, February 1, 2013.  Interested applicants should e-mail or mail a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to AALDEF on or before that date at the address below.  Please indicate in your cover letter the top three preferred program areas.  Only law students qualify for AALDEF’s legal internships.  Applications may be faxed or emailed.
·   Any bilingual ability should be stated in the application.  Bilingual ability is helpful, but not required.  Gujarati, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Indonesian, and Urdu-speaking applicants are especially urged to apply.
·   Applications will be reviewed upon receipt through the February 1, 2013 deadline.  Interviews will take place on a rolling basis.  Only applicants who have been granted interviews will be notified of their advancement in the application process. 

Summer Internship Search (Legal)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
99 Hudson Street, 12th floor
New York, New York 10013-2815
Fax: 212-966-4303  Email: info@aaldef.org

For more information, contact:
Shirley Lin at 212-966-5932 x220 or slin@aaldef.org
Thomas Mariadason at 212-966-5932 x223 or tmariadason@aaldef.org

* * *Please do NOT email applications to slin@aaldef.org or tmariadason@aaldef.org * * *

# # #

UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Summer interns attend weekly brown bag lectures on a range of public interest legal topics along with interns from other legal defense funds and civil rights groups.  The summer program is ten (10) weeks, beginning approximately June 3rd through August 9th.  The position is unpaid.  However, in previous years many AALDEF interns have been successful at securing independent funding and work-study funds may also be available.  Academic credit can be arranged.

Community Health Care Initiative:  community education and outreach in the areas of immigration, government benefits, language rights, and health care access.
Educational Equity Intern: Responsibilities include community outreach and presentations with Asian American youth groups, public education policy research, assistance with client intakes and general support for projects on educational equity, juvenile justice, affirmative action, student free-speech and police surveillance, and anti-Asian harassment.
Housing & Environmental Justice Project: Responsibilities include community outreach and research on land use, community planning, and anti-displacement issues.
Office Assistant: Responsibilities include data entry, organizing press clippings, answering phones, doing mailings, assisting with fundraising and other events, and performing general clerical duties.  Other responsibilities include providing support for community education and outreach projects and acting as an interpreter/translator.  Computer experience with databases, graphics and web programs is helpful.  
Voting Rights Intern: 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; help prepare for election monitoring of the 2013 Mayoral Elections; conduct voter registration drives.

Requirements: Candidates must be detail-oriented and possess strong writing skills. Spoken and written knowledge of Korean, Bangla, Chinese, or another Asian language is a plus. Qualified applicants should indicate which internship they are applying for and send a resume and cover letter by Monday, February 11, 2013 to:

Summer Undergraduate Intern Search
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
99 Hudson Street, 12th floor
New York, New York 10013
fax: 212.966.4303 or email: info@aaldef.org  

For more information, contact Jennifer Weng at 212-966-5932, ext. 212 or jweng@aaldef.org

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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: info@aaldef.org

For more information, contact Jennifer Weng at 212-966-5932, ext. 212 or jweng@aaldef.org.

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New date: Responding to Disaster in Working-Class New York: Housing and Community After Hurricane Sandy

New date: Responding to Disaster in Working-Class New York: Housing and Community After Hurricane Sandy

Seen on the NYU A/P/A Institute website:

This event takes place on December 3, from 7 pm to 9 pm, at 8 Washington Mews, New York, NY, 10003.

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Photo credit: Yuko Torihara

Join longtime activists, advocates, writers, and photographers to discuss the effects of natural disasters and poverty on low-income communities of color in New York City.

Panelists include:

Jason Chan, Organizer, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
Bethany Li, Staff Attorney, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Alisa Pizarro, Public Housing Resident and Organizer, Red Hook Initiative
Damaris Reyes, Executive Director, Good Old Lower East Side
Garrett Wright, Staff Attorney, Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center

With introductory remarks by Suketu Mehta, author of the critically-acclaimed Maximum City, and photographs by Open City magazine contributors Gina Chung, E. Tammy Kim, and Yuko Torihara.

Curated by E. Tammy Kim.

Cosponsored by the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center, Good Old Lower East Side, Open City magazine of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and Red Hook Initiative.

This event was originally scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, 2012 and was entitled New York for Sale: Housing Struggles in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. It was rescheduled and reframed due to Hurricane Sandy.
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AALDEF Spring 2013 Internships

As seen on the AALDEF website:

SPRING 2013 INTERNSHIPS

Date posted: November 19, 2012
Experience level: For Undergraduate, Graduate, and Law Students

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 and Environmental Justice: 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 is 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: info@aaldef.org

For more information, contact Jennifer Weng at 212-966-5932, ext. 212 or jweng@aaldef.org.

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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Pro Bono Training

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) 
 Pro Bono Training

     

Thousands of young immigrants have been approved for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA). But with an estimated 100,000 undocumented Asian immigrants eligible, we have thousands more to reach. DACA is a Department of Homeland Security directive that gives eligible undocumented youth a two-year pause from the threat of deportation and an opportunity to secure a work permit. For many, this will be the first opportunity to legally work and live in this country.

Many of these immigrants are from the communities served by the various Asian bar associations of New York. Taking on a DACA case pro bono is a discrete way to learn basic immigration law and begin to change the life of undocumented youth.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is seeking pro bono counsel to represent eligible young people applying for DACA. No prior legal experience is required, but pro bono counsel will be required to attend a training prior to taking a case. These cases will help support the work of AALDEF’s youth group for undocumented Asian Americans.

If you are interested in taking a DACA case through AALDEF, please join us for the training on:

Tuesday, November 27 from 6:30pm-8:30pm

at Linklaters, 1345 6th Avenue New York, NY 10105

To register for the training, please email AALDEF at: events@aaldef.org.

Please confirm in advance that you are covered by professional liability insurance.

2 CLE credits are being provided by the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY)

For more information about what this new directive means for Asian American communities, see our legal alert.

Generously co-sponsored by:
Asian American Bar Association of New York 
Muslim Bar Association of New York  
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York
South Asian Bar Association of New York
 
 

 

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ELECTION DAY 2012: AALDEF YPC Viewing Party

ELECTION DAY 2012: VIEWING PARTY!

AALDEF’s Young Professionals Committee Is Hosting an Election Day Viewing Party at Manhattan Proper!

Come join us as we witness history and watch the election results unfold.

Past and present AALDEF election protection volunteers, meet your fellow volunteers and celebrate your efforts at the polls with AALDEF friends, supporters, and staff!

DETAILS:

November 6, 2012, from 7pm…until the next president is announced!

Manhattan Proper (6 Murray Street between Broadway and Church)

Specials: $4 Drafts All Night, $5 House Wines and $6 Well Drinks (until 9pm)

Questions? Email ypc.aaldef@gmail.com

RSVP on Facebook or to ypc.aaldef@gmail.com

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AALDEF Night at the Theater: Hold These Truths

Join the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund for a night at the theater!

Hold These Truths

A one-man show inspired by the true story of Japanese American civil rights hero Gordon Hirabayashi.  Agonizing over the forced removal of Japanese Americans to concentration camps during World War II, Gordon journeys toward a greater understanding of America’s triumphs – and a confrontation with its failures.  www.EpicTheatreEnsemble.org/HoldTheseTruths
 

Monday, October 22, 6:30 PM*
Epic Theatre at the 14th Street Y
344 E. 14th Street, NYC

With a special Q&A after the performance with playwright Jeanne Sakata and former Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal

Tickets: $35 
To purchase tickets, call 212.966.5932 x212.

* * *

Jeanne Sakata made her playwriting debut with her solo play, Hold These Truths (formerly Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi), which received its world premiere in November 2007 in Los Angeles. The play was also the inspiration and theatrical centerpiece for the 2009 civil rights symposium on the Hirabayashi case at the University of Tennessee, “Civil Liberties, National Security and the Legacies of the Japanese Removal and Incarcerations.”

Neal Katyal is a partner at Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC.  He previously served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States and as a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center.  Katyal has argued several cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), a constitutional challenge to the military tribunals at Guantanamo. 

*Note early curtain time. The event will end in time for you to watch the presidential debate that evening!

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AALDEF Seeking Tamil Volunteer Interpreter

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund is seeking a volunteer interpreter who is fluent in Tamil to conduct a one-hour phone call.  The consultation may take place by telephone in the evening later this week or early next week.  Interested volunteers should contact Shirley Lin at slin@aaldef.org regarding their availability.

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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Pro Bono Training

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) 
 Pro Bono Training
MuBANY Logo small

An estimated 100,000 undocumented Asian immigrants are eligible for “Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals” (DACA). A new Department of Homeland Security directive, DACA gives eligible undocumented youth a two-year pause from the threat of deportation and an opportunity to secure a work permit. For many, this will be the first opportunity to legally work and live in this country.

  Many of these immigrants are from the communities served by the various Asian bar associations of New York. Taking on a DACA case pro bono is a discrete  way to learn basic immigration law and impact the life of undocumented youth. 

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is seeking pro bono counsel to represent eligible young people applying for DACA. No prior legal experience is required, but pro bono counsel will be required to attend a training prior to taking a case. These cases will help support the work of AALDEF’s youth group for undocumented Asian Americans.

  

If you are interested in taking a DACA case through AALDEF, please join us for the training on:

Wednesday, September 5 from 6pm-7pm

at O’Melveny & Myers, 7 Times Square

To register for the training, please email AALDEF at: events@aaldef.org

For more information about what this new directive means for Asian American communities, see our legal alert.

Generously Co-sponsored by:
 
Asian American Bar Association of New York  
 Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York
Muslim Bar Association of New York  
South Asian Bar Association of New York
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