Deadline Nearing for Applications for Immigration Advocacy Internship

06/26/2019

Saint Louis University’s Center for Service and Community Engagement and the Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA) have partnered to create an internship for a SLU student focused on work in advocacy and raising awareness about immigration issues. Applications for the internship are due Sunday, June 30.

The internship will support IFCLA in sharing its mission and work with fellow students. The internship will also address the reality that many individuals are willing to go to the border to learn, but fewer tend to learn about the issues facing immigrants in our own community. 

The paid internship would include on-site work in both offices, as well as co-sponsored awareness programming. It is open to SLU undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

The ideal candidate will be fluent in Spanish and English, will be a self-starter, and will available for work in both the fall and spring semesters. There will be an option to extend the internship into the summer.

The internship stems from a recent immersion trip to the southern border with bi-national partner, Kino Border Initiative, located in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico.

The partnership will begin with a three-year trial, with opportunity to reassess the function, cost, and impact of the internship after that time. Its goal is to create a deeper connection with IFCLA and SLU, as well as the wider St. Louis community. 

Bryan Sokol, Ph.D., director of the Center for Service and Community Engagement, joined Lindsey Faust, IFCLA’s Loretto Volunteer, students and CSCE staff to explore the complicated nature of the U.S.-Mexico border. Through trip resulted in a deeper relationship between SLU and IFCLA, leading Sokol to propose the joint internship program. 

“Effective advocacy of any kind requires effective collaboration,” Sokol said. “With complex and divisive issues like immigration policy reform, we need especially strong partnerships and greater opportunity to build support across networks and communities."

"We hope the CSCE and IFCLA partnership will enrich our respective advocacy efforts in seeking a more humane and dignified approach to supporting immigrants, especially those who are undocumented," he continued.

For more information on the partnership, contact Jessica Trout. An application consisting of a resume and cover letter can also be sent to Trout.