Legal Fellow

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Description

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• Law and policy analysis at the intersection of international and domestic law: the fellow will support the team that aims to bring U.S. domestic law on refugee and asylum issues in line with international standards. Work can include engagement in international treaty body reporting, strategic litigation, and regulatory comment.
• Regional protection policy: the fellow will support PSU’s growing work on protection policy and practice with UNHCR operations in Latin America (as relates to links to U.S. border policy); US maritime protection and Northern Caribbean policy and practice; and the interplay between U.S. border arrivals, U.S. domestic responses, and U.S. regional engagement with Latin American states, particularly Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. Fluent Spanish is required.
• Protection and reception at the U.S. Southern Border: the fellow will support a dynamic presence along the U.S. southern border. The Fellow will play an integral leadership role in legal empowerment, working with legal service providers at the border to develop and execute strategies that empower asylum-seekers appearing pro se before U.S. authorities, as well as building networks for legal service providers themselves. Additionally, the fellow will participate in other protection initiatives, including providing support to individual case management, mapping and developing referral pathways for asylum-seekers and refugees, assisting in legal and humanitarian coordination, supporting shelter and other humanitarian interventions, monitoring and reporting on recent developments, and performing project management tasks. 
• Detention and the individual case system: the fellow will work with the team that advocates for the reduction in the use of detention for asylum-seekers in the United States and seeks improvements in detention and alternatives to detention (ATD) policy and practice. Work will involve tracking and analyzing policy developments and assisting with individuals who contact UNHCR in search of legal assistance or protection information or support (including asylum-seekers, stateless people, and those in need of resettlement). 
• Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: the fellow will support primarily with facilitating resettlement of refugees out of the Northern Caribbean. The fellow will conduct protection assessments for persons of concern located in the Northern Caribbean and conduct country of origin research. The fellow will complete resettlement interviews with refugees and draft Resettlement Registration Forms, including drafting a legal analysis of the refugee claim, to be submitted to various countries to advocate for their resettlement. The fellow will be involved with direct communication and some case management, as well as tracking and monitoring of cases. Spanish and/or Haitian Creole fluency are desirable.

• When submitting an application, prospective fellows are encouraged to detail their experience in the immigration and refugee field as well as which skills and substantive areas of knowledge they wish to develop during their fellowship period. Fellows:
• Must be a 2024 degree candidate or recent graduate from a U.S. law school.
• Must have completed coursework in international law; refugee law; and/or human rights; additional coursework in U.S. immigration law preferable. 
• Preference for experience in U.S. asylum; refugee law; and/or other topics related to refugees, asylum-seekers, and statelessness.
• Experience with legal clinics in law school, or other forms of direct service experience with asylum-seekers or statelessness would be particularly helpful. 
• Fluent Spanish is essential for fellows working on regional protection policy issues and highly desirable for other areas of work. Haitian Creole is highly desirable for the resettlement and complementary pathways area of work, although not a requirement. 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Detail-oriented, with strong research and legal analysis skills.
• Self-directed, with ability to multi-task and prioritize with minimal supervision.

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