Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) is seeking a summer undergraduate intern to support its Advocacy Program during summer 2022. We are unable to offer compensation, but will support the candidate with any necessary documentation for securing outside funding or credit for the internship.

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) is a Dallas-based immigration legal services provider that assists asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, and survivors of violence navigate the immigration system. We are seeking an undergraduate student to help us coordinate and deliver our HRI Connect program, as well as execute the tasks the group identifies for HRI staff members.

HRI Connect is a multilingual (English, Spanish, French) space where the folks we serve come together to discuss collective problems, strategize about a shared vision for the future, and make decisions about tactics about how to achieve that vision. The group is focused on four main issues: access to affordable healthcare regardless of immigration status; interrupting the traffic-stop-to-deportation pipeline; redressing the federal immigration backlog; and registering people to vote. Members meet once a month as a large group and at various intervals as formal committees and other small groups. The group is facilitated by HRI’s Advocacy Director, who is an attorney supporting the work from a movement lawyering orientation.

The intern will work virtually with the Advocacy Director for 30-40 hours per week for a minimum of 6 weeks.

Qualifications:

• Student currently enrolled in an undergraduate program
• Strong research and investigative skills
• Strong communication skills
• Experience working with people from different backgrounds and identities
• Interest in a public service, legal, or policy career
• Ability to succeed in a virtual environment

Preference will be given to candidates with ability to speak Spanish or French.

Responsibilities:

• Assist HRI’s Advocacy Director with meeting coordination, planning, and outreach
• Participation in HRI Connect meetings (which generally take place in evening hours or on weekends)
• Participating in coalition meetings with other organizations
• Assisting HRI’s Advocacy Director with follow-up from meetings, which may include (in part depending on the intern’s interests and experience):
  • Research and writing
  • Activating HRI’s base to contact elected officials or policymakers
  • Drafting one-pagers, FAQ documents, or Know Your Rights information
  • Developing video or Facebook live scripts/content
  • Coordinating with other team-members to secure and format translations
• Responding to calls received on HRI Connect’s Healthcare Hotline

Application instructions: Please submit a cover letter explaining your interest in and qualifications for the position, as well as a resume, to HRI’s Advocacy Director, Kali Cohn, at kcohn@hrionline.org. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas is seeking a Summer 2022 Movement Lawyering Intern.

Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) is a Dallas-based immigration legal services provider that assists asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, and survivors of violence navigate the immigration system. We are seeking a 1L or 2L student committed to social justice and movement work for a placement under the direct supervision of HRI’s Advocacy Director.

Since 2019, HRI has been building a program to center our clients in decision-making and strategy about systemic change work. Over the past two years, that program has grown into HRI Connect/Conexión HRI, a bilingual English/Spanish space where the folks HRI serves come together to discuss collective problems, strategize about a shared vision for the future, and make decisions about tactics about how to achieve that vision. The group is focused on four main issues: access to affordable healthcare regardless of immigration status; interrupting the traffic-stop-to-deportation pipeline; redressing the federal immigration backlog; and registering people to vote. The group is facilitated by HRI’s Advocacy Director, who is an attorney supporting the work from a movement lawyering orientation.

The precise responsibilities of the intern will vary depending upon issues in flux during the internship period, but will support advancing HRI Connect’s priorities and could include:

• Legal research and writing;
• Non-legal research, including target research of key policymakers;
• Distilling legal concepts into public-facing explainers;
• Participation in coalition meetings and calls;
• Gathering testimony;
• Facilitating meetings;
• Delivering Know Your Rights presentations;
• Participating in local, state, and/or federal policymaking processes by submitting testimony or public comment; and
• Authoring Public Information Act requests.

The intern will work collaboratively with the Advocacy Director, either in-person or virtually depending upon public health protocols in place during the internship period.

Requirements: The candidate must:

• Have a demonstrated commitment to social justice work; and
• Demonstrate Spanish language fluency.

Preference will be given to candidates with experience or background in community organizing, working with trauma-impacted communities, working with immigrant communities, public speaking, communications, meeting facilitation, and/or policy.

Application Instructions: Qualified applicants please submit your resume and a tailored cover letter to Layne Faulkner at Lfaulkner@hrionline.org. No phone calls will be accepted. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis and positions may close at any time after candidates have been identified.

We do not provide funding for fellows. Qualified applicants, please submit your resume and a tailored cover letter expressing your interest in becoming a legal fellow with HRI.

Apply now