Spring 2025 Shelter Services Legal Intern
Are you applying to the internship?
Job Description
About the Company:
The International Institute of New England (IINE) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving refugees and immigrants in Boston, MA, Lowell, MA, and Manchester, NH. They offer internships to students and recent graduates interested in supporting refugee, asylee, and immigrant populations. Internships are unpaid and generally align with the US semester system.
Job Description: Spring 2025 Shelter Services Legal Intern (Lowell, MA)
This in-person internship at IINE’s Lowell office offers a unique opportunity to work with a small legal team within their Shelter Services program, providing support to migrants in emergency shelters. The internship is specifically designed for undergraduate students, recent undergraduate graduates, and 1L law students (2L and 3L students are not currently accommodated). A minimum of 16 hours per week is preferred, but exceptions may be made.
Key Responsibilities:
• Shadowing client consultations and meetings with legal staff.
• Reviewing and identifying immigration and civil documents.
• Supporting legal staff with case preparation, filing, documentation, and data entry.
• Liaising with government agencies (USCIS, State Department).
• Assisting with general legal department tasks:
• Maintaining the filing system.
• Creating case notes/documenting client contact.
• Entering client data.
• Processing mail.
• Preparing forms and filings (scanning, postage, saving, etc.).
Qualifications:
• Interest in international, refugee, asylee, and/or immigrant issues.
• Patience communicating with non-native English speakers.
• Professionalism, discretion, and maturity in handling confidential information.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to follow instructions.
• Critical thinking skills.
• Haitian Creole, French, and/or Spanish language skills are highly desirable.
• Ability to work respectfully in a multicultural environment.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Superior organizational skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
Learning Objectives:
• Understanding the basics of the U.S. immigration system.
• Gaining firsthand experience in emergency shelters.
• Efficiently collecting and documenting information for legal applications.
• Developing a detailed understanding of legal best practices from an administrative standpoint.
• Respectfully expressing and engaging with diverse ideas and values in a multicultural, multilingual environment.
