Social
Concerns
Summer Fellowship
La Casa de Amistad, Inc.: Immigration Legal Services
Volunteer Non US Citizen
Yes
Categories:
Language Preferences:
Location Details
Description
La Casa de Amistad is a youth and community center founded in South Bend in 1973. Our mission is to empower our Latino, Hispanic, and immigrant community throughout the entire region with educational programs, social services, legal services, and advocacy support. This placement will provide a well-rounded experience to a student interested in understanding and responding to both the immigration and social service needs facing our clients. The student will assist our Immigration Legal Clinic, which provides high-quality, low-cost immigration legal consultations and representation. We are an affiliate of CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.) and are led by a full-time lawyer, with DOJ accredited legal representatives and immigration counselors on staff. Our multilingual staff (English, Spanish, Arabic) assists immigrants of all nationalities, orientations, and religious backgrounds in need of affordable immigration services. In addition, the student will assist our bilingual (English/Spanish) Social Service Coordinators, who receive approximately 10,000 visits and calls each year for assistance related to health care, mental health, COVID-19, education, jobs, citizenship, legal matters, housing, utilities, food access, crisis management and more.
Student Role
Assist legal staff in assessing cases to determine eligibility for relief under immigration law _ Assist legal staff in preparing applications for relief for applicants who qualify _ Assist with administrative tasks, including translations, filing, scanning, and mailing _ Conduct research on specific legal issues, including country-based human rights research in support of asylum cases _ Assist our Social Services Coordinators with providing referrals for social services assistance (health care, food access, housing, utilities, etc.) _ Assist in other La Casa projects, as needed _ Participate in training opportunities, as appropriate _ Attend and participate in legal team and full La Casa Staff Meetings
Work Schedule
Monday to Thursday from 9 AM to 5 PM, Friday from 9AM to 2PM.
Orientation
The student will receive an orientation from La Casa staff and will be provided with training materials to prepare them with information that will improve their skills and immigration knowledge. The student will also receive ongoing supervision and feedback from the Director of Immigration Legal Services.
Housing Information
The student must provide their own housing locally.
Drivers License
No
Start And End Dates
Eight consecutive weeks between May 17 and August 16, 2026