Thank you for your interest in volunteering to help immigrants and refugees!
Opportunities for Attorneys
Help Houstonians become new U.S. Citizens
Demand for citizenship services is at an all-time high. Attend a workshop and help Lawful Permanent Residents applying for Naturalization and quality control of citizenship applications.
BakerRipley
- Volunteer for their monthly Citizenship & Immigration Forums, helping Legal Permanent Resident in completing their Naturalization application. Training is provided for attorneys and non-attorneys and starts at 8:00 am. Please see the full schedule and sign up information here. Contact Monica Holtkamp with additional questions.
- For volunteers with more experience and the pre-requisite of having been trained and attended a Naturalization Forum in the last year, consider BakerRipley In-House Workshops, morning; afternoon or full day shifts are available weekly. Please find the full schedule here.
Bonding Against Adversity
- Attorneys are needed to help with Saturday citizenship workshops. Find the schedule of workshops here. To sign up to volunteer, email here or call 713-471-5832.
Take a case Pro Bono
Tahirih Justice Center
Lend your time to represent a woman or child fleeing violence seek a U Visa, T Visa, SIJ, VAWA, or asylum during these precarious times. Sign up here.
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
Unaccompanied minors flee gang violence, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual violence and many suffer from severe parental neglect. By representing a child in removal proceedings you will not only gain litigation experience but you will also make a difference in a child’s life. KIND will provide you with a mentoring attorney for the duration of the case.
Please contact Claire Doutre if you would like to take a KIND case or attend a free training to learn more.
Catholic Charities’ Cabrini Center
Catholic Charities provides board immigration legal services and seeks pro bono volunteers to help with:
- Asylum cases, both affirmatively through the Houston Asylum Office and defensively with the Immigration Court
- Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases, for juveniles who have been abandoned or abused by their parents in their home countries
- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)* cases, for domestic violence survivors to self-petition for immigration benefits
- T Visa cases, for victims of human trafficking
- U Visa cases, for victims of serious crimes
- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for young people brought to the United States as children
If you are interested in volunteering as a pro bono attorney, please email here, and complete the Pro Bono Attorney application.
Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA)
Discover pro bono opportunities to support children facing deportation. Find more information here.
Immigration attorneys needed: free consultations & presentations
Community organizations often request that members of the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative provide presentations and immigration consultations to their low-income communities. We need your help!
If you are an immigration attorney and would like to help, please email Andrea at andrea@houstonimmigration.org.
Volunteer opportunities
Past Opportunities
The Equal Justice Center is partnering with the Texas AFL-CIO to hold a Citizenship Drive in Houston on Saturday, December 7th and we would love for you to join us! Attorneys/accredited representative volunteers are needed to assist with eligibility screening and application review from 9 am – 3 pm (or any portion of the time you are available) at Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation. Breakfast, lunch, and refreshments provided! If you are able to volunteer, we would also like to include your business contact information on our referral sheets to provide to applicants we are unable to assist at the clinic, and on the TX AFL-CIO’s citizenship website. If you are interested, please contact Megan Sheffield at msheffield@equaljusticecenter.org.
Opportunities for Non-Attorneys
Work one-on-one with Unaccompanied Children
The Young Center
Volunteers needed at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights- a national non-profit organization with an office here in Houston. The Young Center provides volunteer Child Advocates to children that are in immigration detention. They train bilingual volunteers to work one-on-one with unaccompanied children and advocate for their best interests.
Please contact Rachel Wootten to sign up for the next training.
Help Houstonians become U.S. Citizens
Demand for citizenship services is at an all-time high. Attend a workshop and help Lawful Permanent Residents applying for Naturalization and quality control of citizenship applications.
BakerRipley
- Volunteer for their monthly Citizenship & Immigration Forums, helping Legal Permanent Resident in completing their Naturalization application. Training is provided for attorneys and non-attorneys and starts at 8:00 am. Please see the full schedule and sign up information here. Contact Monica Holtkamp with additional questions.
- For volunteers with more experience and the pre-requisite of having been trained and attended a Naturalization Forum in the last year, consider BakerRipley In-House Workshops, morning; afternoon or full day shifts are available weekly. Please find the full schedule here.
Bonding Against Adversity
- Attorneys are needed to help with Saturday citizenship workshops. Find the schedule of workshops here. To sign up to volunteer, email here or call 713-471-5832.
Interpretation and Translation Support Needed
Tahirih Justice Center
Staff Tahirih’s phones to help field calls from immigrant women and children concerned about the impact of the Executive Orders and who are seeking legal help. Four-hour training available- seeking bilingual phone volunteers (attorneys or legal staff) who can commit to 16 hours a month on the phones.
Contact Tahirih’s Volunteer Coordinator.
Opportunities at the Border
Volunteer to help those at the US-Mexico Border (local and travel opportunities)!
There are thousands of asylum seekers living in makeshift refugee camps in Mexico, just across the U.S. border. These families live in squalid conditions waiting for an opportunity to present their case, yet they must do so on their own – as the vast majority do not have access to counsel. You can help.
Proyecto Corazon (Lawyers for Good Governance)
Attorneys needed to work remotely with clients via telephone to help them complete asylum applications. Travel opportunities also available. To learn more, please visit: https://www.lawyersforgoodgovernment.org/matamoros-action-589.
Jones Day
Attorneys needed to work remotely to take on full asylum representation. This requires 2 trips to Laredo (no travel to Mexico required). Mentors and sample briefs available. If you are interested in taking on a case for full representation, please contact Laura Tuell at ltuell@jonesday.com.