Fall 2027 Fellowship Sponsorship, Immigrants' Rights Project

About this role

ABOUT THE JOB

The ACLU invites rising third-year law students and law graduates to apply for a sponsorship opportunity to work with us as a Legal Fellow for two years. The Immigrants' Rights Project (IRP) of the National office in New York, NY or San Francisco, CA seeks applicants to consider for a sponsored fellowship such as Equal Justice Works or other public interest fellowships to begin in the fall of 2027. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month.

OVERVIEW

We will review applications on a rolling basis, but priority consideration will be given to those who submit applications by June 18, 2026.

This position is part of a collective bargaining unit. It is represented by ACLU Staff United (ASU).

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Reporting to the Project Director, IRP seeks a Legal Fellow focused on opposing immigration apprehension tactics that, in violation of the Constitution and federal law, fuel the administration’s goal of mass deportations. This project will require creativity and flexibility, in conjunction with the rest of IRP’s raids team, to proactively target DHS’s regularly shifting tactics. It will include developing and litigating challenges to ICE and CBP mass arrests, with a particular focus on worksite raids; to specific DHS enforcement tactics, such as traffic checkpoints and unconstitutional racial profiling; and to state and local law enforcement’s participation in the federal deportation machinery. The project will focus on unlawful and unconstitutional aspects of the deportation pipeline prior to and at the time of apprehension—particularly Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations and actions in excess of statutory authority.