2026 Summer Intern: U.S. Asylum System Documentation

We’re happy you are here. If you are looking to be part of a vibrant, inspiring, mission-driven organization full of thinkers and doers, then read on. If you aspire to apply your research, program, outreach, and documentation skills to a transformational organization, apply for this internship.

Refugees International is seeking a Summer 2026 Intern focused on the U.S. asylum system, community documentation, and storytelling. The intern will support RI’s work to document the experiences of asylum seekers, immigrant communities, advocates, service providers, and others affected by federal immigration actions. This work may include supporting community-centered research, resource and partner mapping, outreach and engagement, meeting and event coordination, and literature review on ethical documentation, community archives, oral histories, and best practices for preserving stories and evidence related to immigration enforcement and resistance.

When you join us, you will be an integral contributor to a non-governmental organization that advocates for lifesaving assistance, human rights, and protection for refugees and other displaced people. Our work work on the U.S. asylum system focuses on documenting the impacts of federal immigration and asylum policies, elevating the experiences of people seeking protection, and supporting advocacy that advances access to safety, dignity, and due process.

Refugees International seeks great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, and we specifically encourage members of refugee, immigrant, asylum-seeking, or other displaced communities to join us.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Supporting RI’s documentation and research related to the U.S. asylum system, federal immigration actions, and their impacts on asylum seekers, immigrant communities, and the organizations that serve and support them;


• In collaboration with community partners, completing a resource and community mapping of organizations, advocates, service providers, grassroots groups, impacted communities, and other stakeholders connected to asylum access and immigration response work;


• Providing administrative support for active work streams, including tracking tasks, organizing materials, maintaining shared documents, supporting follow-up, and helping coordinate ongoing project needs;


• Supporting outreach and engagement efforts designed to expand participation by volunteers, community partners, advocates, and people with relevant lived or professional experience;


• Assisting with event and meeting organization, including scheduling, preparing agendas and materials, coordinating logistics, taking detailed notes, and summarizing key discussions and action items;


• Conducting a literature review on ethical storytelling, oral history methods, trauma-informed documentation, and data stewardship;


• Helping identify best practices for creating safe and community-centered spaces to preserve stories, data, written accounts, and other materials related to immigration policy and protection challenges;


• Monitoring relevant developments in the U.S. asylum system, immigration enforcement, and community-based responses to federal immigration actions;


• Drafting short memos, summaries, background materials, outreach language, and other written products as needed;


• Supporting other tasks as assigned.

Qualifications/Expectations

• Be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student, or have graduated within the past year;


• Be seeking the internship as part of an educational experience related to the program in which you are enrolled;


• Have a strong interest in the U.S. asylum system, immigration policy, refugee protection, community documentation, storytelling, human rights, and humanitarian affairs;


• Have familiarity with immigration enforcement, asylum access, community-based advocacy, or archival/storytelling work. Lived experience is welcomed but not required;


• Have strong research, writing, organizational, communication, and administrative skills;


• Be interested in ethical documentation practices, including oral histories, digital evidence, written accounts, quantitative data, and community-centered approaches to preserving lived experience;


• Be based within the United States;


• Work at least 250 hours, as guided by RI staff or partners;


• Begin in late May 2026 and end no later than late August 2026;

COMPENSATION
$5,000 stipend

TO APPLY

Please include your resume, cover letter, and a one - to two - page writing sample. Applications should be submitted by May 22, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted by Refugees International.

ABOUT REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL

Refugees International advocates for lifesaving assistance, human rights, and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises. We do not accept any government or UN funding, ensuring the independence and credibility of our work.

Refugees International is an equal-opportunity employer committed to promoting a workplace reflective of the people it serves. Refugees International welcomes applications from all qualified individuals regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, or other factors.