Students will help asylum seekers prepare petitions for asylum, using information provided by applicants in written packets and during personal interviews. Asylum is available to immigrants who have fled their home countries because of persecution and/or torture due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
Organization
Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The Pro Se Asylum Clinic is an internal project of the Mithoff Pro Bono Program, hosted in partnership with Casa Marianella. Casa Marianella provides shelter, food, and full supportive services to homeless immigrants in Austin, as well as immigration legal services for residents and former residents.
Project Details
- Project Start Date
Friday, February 18-Friday, March 4
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 10-15 hours, including training
- Training
- One hour of materials about asylum eligibility and the application process to study on Canvas any time before the project date with an opportunity to ask questions at the beginning of the work session; additional training on interviewing skills will be provided at the live training and work session on February 18
- Skills used
- Client interviewing; document preparation/review
- Project location
- The work session and the applicant sessions will take place at the Law School; some student teams may be asked to conduct exit meetings at Casa Marianella (821 Gunter St) at a time during the week of February 28 that is mutually agreeable to the team and the applicant if their applicant cannot return to the Law School on March 4; Casa Marianella requests that all participants to wear masks at all applicant sessions
- Address
- 727 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78705
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 20
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Previous immigration law experience helpful; foreign language skills (Lingala, French, Spanish, Haitian Creole) are preferred but not required; students who do not speak the same language as the applicant they are working with will have access to a translation service
- To Apply
- Submit an application online at https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ePTfVJCyCiPOwzY; applications will be considered on a rolling basis as they are received