Children Rights Jobs in East Rutherford, NJ (NOW HIRING)

Children's Rights is seeking a part-time undergraduate intern for the Fall 2026 semester to join our active litigation program and support our commitment to government accountability and social justice for children. The paralegal intern will have the opportunity to work on our Flores case, which sets national standards for treatment, placement, and release of all immigrant children detained in the custody of the federal government. As Flores counsel, Children's Rights is charged with overseeing the government's compliance with the Flores Settlement Agreement and seeking court enforcement when those protections are violated; Children's Rights is one of only three organizations in the country permitted to connect directly with children inside federal facilities. Children's Rights' advocacy has shut down dangerous intake sites, supported the release of children and families, and exposed government misrepresentations of current conditions for children in detention centers.

This position is unpaid and will support our Flores team, and may be performed remotely. While we prefer candidates to be based in NYC, non-NYC candidates will be considered.

How will you make a different in the Children's Rights space through this internship?

• Paralegal interns have the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to our immigration advocacy program for children and families in detention. Our advocacy responds directly to the current administration's attacks on the immigrant community, defending children and human rights of immigrant children and families. Interns work closely with our legal team, composed of paralegals and attorneys, and will learn the role of the paralegal in impact litigation advocacy. Intern's work directly supports our mission of ensuring every child has access to basic needs and opportunities necessary for development.

Duties/Responsibilities

• The paralegal intern will provide administrative support to our legal team, which may include document management, conducting non-legal research, and proofreading and cite checking court filings.
• The paralegal intern will support a project related to census data relating to length of stay and population information gathered from our detention center visits.
• The paralegal intern will update our rights violation tracker according to evidence and declarations gathered from detention center visits.
• The paralegal intern will have opportunities to attend trainings, program meetings, and connect with our immigration advocacy team.

Experience and Qualifications

• Children's Rights seeks interns who are interested in children's issues and/or social services and committed to government accountability and social justice for children. Undergraduate candidates with relevant experience and demonstrated interest will be considered. Candidates must be available to volunteer 10-15 hours per week. Additionally, applicants must be detail-oriented and well organized, with strong writing, critical thinking, and communication skills, as well as excited to contribute to and observe non-profit immigration advocacy.
• Start and end dates are flexible, but a minimum commitment of eight (8) weeks is required. Internships at Children's Rights are unpaid, though we are happy to support interns in seeking outside funding and/or course credit from their schools.
• Knowledge of children's issues, immigration issues, social services, social justice, civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ/TGNC issues, juvenile justice and/or other areas of our work is a plus.
• Data analytics experience or academic background is a plus, but not required.
• Bilingualism is a plus, but not required.
• Applicants with prior personal involvement in the systems we fight to improve and/or with other diverse life experiences and perspectives are especially encouraged to apply. For more information, please visit our website: childrensrights.org.

Physical and Travel Requirements:

• Prolonged periods remaining stationary at a desk and working on a computer. No travel is required.

To Apply:

• Please submit (1) a cover letter outlining your interest and experience and a college transcript (official or unofficial) as one file and upload to the Cover Letter upload field; and (2) a resume to the Resume field via bamboohr.com/jobs/. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; the application will be closed on August 28th , 2026 if it has not been filled by then. Only applicants of interest will be contacted for an interview. For any additional questions you may have regarding this position you may send an email to rzolla@childrensrights.org or kmora@childrensrights.org.
  

Children's Rights is an equal employment opportunity employer, and women,people of color, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities, and people with unique lived experience or diverse professional or personal backgrounds and perspectives are encouraged to apply.