Job o’ the Day: Staff Attorney with the University of Chicago Law’s Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights in Harlingen, Texas
The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights at the University of Chicago Law School is currently accepting applications for the position of South Texas Staff Attorney to be based in Harlingen/Brownsville, Texas. The Young Center is dedicated to promoting the best interests—safety and well-being—of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children in the United States. The immediate focus of the Young Center’s work is to serve as Child Advocate (guardian ad litem in immigration proceedings) for unaccompanied and separated children pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and the 2013 Violence Against Women Act. The Young Center is at the forefront of best interests advocacy for unaccompanied immigrant children and is the only organization in the country overseeing the work of Child Advocates pursuant to the 2008 TVPRA. This is a two-year position, with the option for renewal or transfer.
From the PSJD job posting:
The Staff Attorney position is a unique opportunity for an attorney to engage in written and oral advocacy on behalf of children in removal proceedings, as well as matters of federal policy. The Staff Attorney will draft and submit best interests recommendations in immigration court, before asylum offices, to public interest attorneys, to the pro bono bar, and to the three federal agencies (DHS, HHS and DOJ) with responsibility for unaccompanied children in the United States. In Texas, the Staff Attorney will work directly with detained children (as young as 12 months and up to 18 years old) to advocate for their best interests with respect to their custody, conditions of release, and their immigration proceedings. The Staff Attorney will recruit, train and supervise bilingual and bicultural volunteer Child Advocates—teachers, law students, social workers, community members—who will work one-on-one with children. The Staff Attorney may be asked to comment on proposed federal regulations, draft internal protocols, and educate the public about unaccompanied children. The Staff Attorney will collaborate with colleagues at the University of Chicago to develop the South Texas program and will travel to and spend time in Chicago on a regular basis. The Young Center team is a passionate, collegial, and innovative group of professionals—attorneys, a social worker and administrative staff—committed to ensuring that children receive the full protection of federal immigration law, domestic child welfare law and international human rights law.
The application deadline is June 30, 2013. For more information, view the full job description at PSJD.org (log-in required).