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Legal Aid for Refugees and Displaced People
The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), under the leadership of Executive Director Becca Heller, works to provide legal aid to refugees and other displaced people seeking safety and advocates for systemic change.
IRAP serves populations whose need is acute and immediate, including individuals seeking to reunite with family members, translators from Iraq and Afghanistan under threat for working with the U.S. government, LGBTI individuals, suriviors of torture, individuals with medical emergencies, and women and children at risk.
The organization works through a model that leverages a volunteer network of over 2,000 law students and pro bono attorneys from around the world to provide legal aid and advocacy on behalf of highly vulnerable refugees and displaced persons. The law students participate through chapters at their institutions, and with strong interest from both students and pro bono attorneys, it is crucial to have the capacity to organize these volunteer resources in order to maximize impact.
With a new two-year grant from SNF, IRAP will add a staff Supervising Attorney position, allowing the organization to expand its services for displaced people through legal clinics, research, advocacy, and individual representation, led by law students and pro bono attorneys who are supervised and trained by IRAP staff.