MIRA Coalition > Immigration Law Trainings & Capacity Building
Immigration Law Trainings & Capacity Building
Upcoming Trainings for Legal Providers:
Sustaining the Work:From Foundations to Practice
This spring training series for DOJ accredited representatives will build and expand on the concepts and skills covered during the 2025-2026 winter training series. Prior attendance is not required, but may be helpful in navigating more advanced topics.
Please note that you must register for each session individually.
This training builds on our winter session on identifying legal risks in common immigration applications. We will focus on how to make strategic decisions when risk is unavoidable. Through real-world scenarios, participants will practice weighing competing risks, advising clients in high-stakes situations, and documenting decision-making. We will also discuss how to navigate uncertainty, shifting policies, and incomplete information while maintaining ethical and client-centered advocacy.
This session expands on the ethics framework introduced in the winter series by focusing on challenging, real-world situations. We will explore common gray areas faced by DOJ accredited representatives, including scope of representation, supervision, confidentiality, and institutional pressures. Participants will learn practical tools for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas, and for making thoughtful, well-documented decisions when the answer is not always clear.
Building on our winter discussion of case management systems, this training focuses on what happens when cases do not go according to plan. We will cover strategies for handling incomplete records, communication challenges, missed deadlines, and capacity constraints. Participants will learn how to identify when a case needs escalation or additional support, and how to adapt systems to better respond to real-world pressures.
This session moves beyond recognizing burnout to focusing on long-term sustainability in immigration legal work. We will explore concrete strategies for setting boundaries, managing workload, and responding to ongoing stress. Participants will also discuss how to navigate organizational pressures and advocate for healthier, more sustainable practices so that they can continue supporting their clients without sacrificing their own wellbeing.
In addition to the above scheduled trainings, we offer trainingsin the following topics:
DOJ Recognition and Accreditation
A special training for MIRA members and other affiliated organizations who wish to provide immigration legal services on the importance of becoming an organization recognized by the Department of Justice, and the requirements for organizations seeking recognition and staff wishing to become Accredited Representatives.
Sustainability in Immigration Practice
Immigration law practitioners experience burnout at much higher rates than peers in other specialty areas. This 90 minute training explores four lawyering models that, when combined, provide much-needed support and structure to clients while also allowing immigration law practitioners to build sustainable and ethical careers. The four models are: trauma informed advocacy, humble lawyering, cultural competency and humility, and vicarious PTSD prevention and treatment.
Enhanced Risks of Filing Common Immigration Applications in the Trump 2.0 Administration
This training is geared towards DOJ accredited representatives who assist with form preparation. During the presentation, MIRA immigration attorneys will discuss how to conduct a legal risk analysis, specific risks associated with commonly filed forms (such as the I-90, I-130, and N-400), and how to use the client empowerment model when advising applicants.
Model Ethics for DOJ Accredited Representatives
DOJ accredited representatives play a key role in expanding access to immigration legal help yet, unlike attorneys, there are no rules structuring or protecting their work. This presentation will present a framework for model ethics for DOJ accredited representatives. We will discuss common ethical issues that arise for DOJ accredited representatives and how to address them, as well as best practices for DOJ accredited programs to protect themselves, their clients and their employees.
Best Practices in Case Management for DOJ Accredited Representatives
At many organizations, DOJ accredited representatives are not only providing legal assistance, but also designing and managing legal programs. During this presentation, MIIRA immigration attorneys will discuss the basic infrastructure of immigration legal services programs with a focus on case management. We will review best practices for intake, case screening, evidence and data collection, client communication, and systems for tracking applications and deadlines. We will also share materials and resources that DOJ accredited representatives can use with clients and colleagues to allow for more efficient and effective case management.
Stronger Together: Recognizing and Reducing Burnout in Immigration Legal Work
Now more than ever, the demand for quality immigration legal services far exceeds local capacity. DOJ accredited representatives play a key role in expanding our community’s ability to respond to this demand. Legal representatives spend most of their days listening to stories of trauma, holding the hands of people in crisis, and struggling to navigate a broken and unjust system. DOJ accredited representatives are under increased pressure from their organizations and the communities they serve to do more and more – often to the point of burnout. This presentation will discuss the phenomenon of vicarious trauma (also known as secondary post traumatic stress) and the ways in which immigration legal work can impact the mental health and wellbeing of advocates. Participants will learn to identify symptoms of burnout, helpful practices for avoiding burnout, and how to ethically and responsibly support their clients and themselves when burnout occurs.
Client Communication: Conveying Complex Legal Information & Delivering Bad News
Particularly in the current political climate, DOJ representatives and other immigration law practitioners are often called upon to deliver bad news or help families weigh the risks and benefits of impossible choices. These conversations can be devastating to both the client and the practitioner. This training will review best practices for delivering bad news and conveying complex legal information accurately and ethically while also helping to minimize the trauma of the conversations for both practitioners and their clients.
Basic Immigration Law Training for nonprofit organizations and attorneys!
Registration for Spring 2026 now closed
MIRA is offering a VIRTUAL Basic Immigration Law Training this spring. The training will run from January 20 through April 7 on Tuesday afternoons (1-3pm) and Thursday mornings (10am-12pm). No classes will be held on January 29 or on February 17 and 19. You can view a tentative schedule here.The training will feature legal experts in various aspects of immigration law.
Who can register:
This intensive training is open only to non-profit staff seeking DOJ accreditation and attorneys seeking to increase their knowledge of immigration law, and follows a curriculum designed by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center to give practitioners the basic knowledge they need to apply for DOJ accreditation and serve the community.
If you are not non-profit staff seeking accreditation or an attorney, please contact us byemail at training@miracoalition.org before registering so we can help you determine if this training is appropriate for you.
Registration:
Cost of registration varies by type:
Staff of MIRA member organization: $200
Staff of non-MIRA member nonprofit organization: $425
Private attorneys: $550
A limited number of scholarships are available for staff of MIRA organizational members upon demonstration of financial need. For more information, please contact us at training@miracoalition.org.
Participants will be required to separately purchase the ILRC’s A Guide for Immigration Advocates. A discount code will be provided to students upon registration ($385 for book or PDF, or $425 for both with the discount). We strongly recommend that students purchase the text immediately after you receive the code, as students will be required to read Units 1 and 2 before the class begins.
A certificate of completion will be issued only to students who successfully complete the course and receive a passing score on the final take-home exam.
