About IDAP
The Immigration Detention Accountability Project (IDAP) works at the intersection of immigrant and disability justice. Through impact litigation, direct representation, and education, we fight for people in contact with our country’s ableist immigration system.
Our project believes that immigration detention must be abolished. To that end, we strategize towards accountability, decarceration, and full human rights for survivors of ICE, CBP, and immigration courts, primarily working with those who are disabled.
As an abolitionist legal organization, we are confronted every day by the law itself. ‘The Law’ is not neutral, and it is not just: it is a collection of historical and present-day choices that make up a white supremacist, imperialist, heterosexist, and ableist system. We learn from and are led by impacted communities and organizers, without whom true justice is not possible.
We represent organizational and individual plaintiffs in systemic change litigation addressing failures in ICE detention, DHS policy and practice, and the immigration legal system broadly.
We engage in individual representation for detained and non-detained immigrants to advocate for better medical and mental health care, as well as disability accommodations (including release). We assist other attorneys, community organizers, and other allies, educating on the intersections of disability and immigration law.
About IDAP fellowships
Disability Law United seeks fellowship applicants to work with IDAP on a project benefiting immigrants held in ICE prisons that falls under one of our following priority areas:
- Movement-based legal support for detained people and community organizers working with them;
- Individual medical and disability advocacy; or
- Development of class-based litigation on behalf of immigrants with disabilities and medical vulnerabilities.
Preferred fellow qualifications
- Background in immigration or disability work;
- experience working with migrants, asylum seekers, or immigrant communities;
- experience working with people with disabilities, trauma survivors, and people from a diversity of backgrounds; and/or
- fluency in Spanish and/or another language.
Application deadline and how to apply
Application deadline for a 2023 Fellowship is July 1, 2022.
Please contact Disability Law United’s Director of the Immigration Accountability Detention Project, Elizabeth Jordan, prior to sending your application materials to discuss your proposal.