NAPABA Celebrates Confirmation of Jessie K. Liu to be United States Attorney for the District of Columbia
For Immediate Release
Sept. 15, 2017
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jessie K. Liu to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Liu is the first Asian Pacific American and the second woman to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
“We congratulate Jessie Liu on her historic confirmation,” said Cyndie M. Chang, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) president. “Ms. Liu’s confirmation reflects the important strides Asian Pacific Americans and women are making in the law.”
A longtime member of the Asian Pacific American legal community, Liu served as a co-chair of the 2012 NAPABA Convention in Washington, D.C. She is also a recipient of the NAPABA Best Under 40 Award.
A litigator with almost 20 years of experience, Liu has a history of federal government service. She served most recently as the Deputy General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury. She previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia for four years and in several senior positions in the U.S. Department of Justice for three years, including as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division, counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, and Deputy Chief of Staff for the National Security Division. She also was a partner at the law firms Morrison & Foerster LLP and Jenner & Block LLP.
Liu clerked for then-Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Houston, Texas. She received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.
NAPABA is proud to have supported Jessie Liu during her nomination. We thank President Trump for nominating her to the position.
For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at 202-775-9555 or bschuster@napaba.org.
GOVERNOR CUOMO SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER PROHIBITING STATE AGENCIES FROM INQUIRING ABOUT IMMIGRATION STATUS
For Immediate Release: 9/15/2017
Executive Order Available Here
Order Protects Immigrants in New York From Fear and Intimidation
Action Also Forbids Law Enforcement Officers from Inquiring About or Disclosing Immigration Status Unless Investigating Illegal Criminal Activity
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today issued Executive Order 170 that prohibits state agencies and officers from inquiring about or disclosing an individual’s immigration status unless required by law or necessary to determine eligibility for a benefit or service. Law enforcement officers will also be prohibited from inquiring about immigration status unless investigating illegal criminal activity. This prohibition against inquiring into status includes, but is not limited to, when an individual approaches a law enforcement officer seeking assistance, is the victim of a crime, or is witness to a crime.
“As Washington squabbles over rolling back sensible immigration policy, we are taking action to help protect all New Yorkers from unwarranted targeting by government,” Governor Cuomo said. “New York became the Empire State due to the contributions of immigrants from every corner of the globe and we will not let the politics of fear and intimidation divide us.”
The Executive Order builds on Governor Cuomo’s commitment to ensure full protections for all immigrants in New York. In March, Governor Cuomo launched the Liberty Defense Project, the nation’s first public-private immigrant legal defense initiative, to respond to the surge in demand for help that is overwhelming nonprofit organizations serving immigrants. The partnership is supported by more than $10 million in funding to offer legal assistance and representation to immigrants in New York, regardless of their status, through a statewide network of attorneys and advocacy organizations.
Protecting New York’s Immigrants
New York State has and continues to serve as a beacon for immigrants. For the past five years, New York State, through the Office for New Americans, has helped immigrants fully participate in New York State civic and economic life through a network of 27 community-based centers around the state that provide English classes, civic education, guidance on how to start / grow a business, and naturalization assistance. ONA also has a hotline, a toll-free, multi-lingual information center, as well as a dedicated website that guides New Americans to available resources. The hotline number is 800-566-7636 (operating 9AM-8PM (ET), Monday through Friday) and the website is www.newamericans.ny.gov.
Since taking office, the Governor has taken aggressive steps to provide assistance to immigrant communities. In 2011, he signed a wide-reaching Executive Order to ensure language access across state agencies, suspended the State’s participation in a federal program that required local law enforcement to help identify deportable individuals, signed legislation holding entities that defraud immigrants accountable, and established the Office for New Americans. He launched NaturalizeNY, the first public-private partnership of its kind to encourage and assist eligible immigrants in New York State with becoming U.S. citizens. As Attorney General, Governor Cuomo also worked to combat immigration fraud, having utilized general civil rights laws to successfully investigate and prosecute companies for defrauding immigrants. He also secured court judgments and settlements in excess of $23 million dollars on behalf of the state’s immigrant population.
The signed executive order can be viewed here, and its text is available below:
No. 170
E X E C U T I V E O R D E R
STATE POLICY CONCERNING IMMIGRANT ACCESS TO STATE SERVICES
WHEREAS, New York State will remain true to the ideals that founded this country, and will continue to welcome immigrants as a source of energy, and celebrate them as a source of revitalization for our State; and
WHEREAS, New York State’s residents make up one of the nation’s most diverse communities, as over 4.3 million immigrants reside within the State and over twenty percent of the State’s population is foreign-born; and
WHEREAS, immigrants residing in New York State are an essential part of the economic fabric of this State, as over 29% of all business owners in New York are foreign-born, such businesses generate millions of dollars in total net income, and the combined purchasing power of immigrant communities exceeds $165 billion dollars; and
WHEREAS, the reporting of unlawful activity by immigrant witnesses and victims is critical to strengthening ties between immigrants and law enforcement, reducing crime, and enhancing the State’s ability to protect the safety of all of its residents; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Constitution and the New York State Human Rights Law protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of national origin in the areas of education, benefits, employment, housing, and public accommodation, and the State is committed to enforcing those protections to the fullest extent of the law; and
WHEREAS, State government has a responsibility to ensure that services are provided equally, and consistent with civil rights laws, to all individuals eligible to receive them; and
WHEREAS, access to State services is critical to the vitality and well-being of immigrant communities and their continued integration into the State’s economic, civil, and cultural life; and
WHEREAS, providing State services to immigrant communities is necessary to meet the needs of the State’s diverse population, to maintain public confidence in State government and its agencies, and to comply with State and Federal civil rights laws; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ANDREW M. CUOMO, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
A. Definitions
1. "State entity" shall mean (i) all agencies and departments over which the Governor has executive authority, and (ii) all public benefit corporations, public authorities, boards, and commissions, for which the Governor appoints the Chair, the Chief Executive, or the majority of Board members, except for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
2. "Alien" shall mean any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.
3. "Illegal activity" shall mean any unlawful activity that constitutes a crime under state or federal law. However, an individual’s status as an undocumented alien does not constitute unlawful activity.
B. Agency and Authority Responsibilities Respecting the Privacy of Personal Information
1. No State officers or employees, other than law enforcement officers as provided in B.3 infra, shall inquire about an individual’s immigration status unless:
a. The status of such individual is necessary to determine his or her eligibility for a program, benefit, or the provision of a service; or
b. The State officer or employee is required by law to inquire about such individual’s status.
2. No State officers or employees, including law enforcement officers, shall disclose information to federal immigration authorities for the purpose of federal civil immigration enforcement, unless required by law. Notwithstanding such prohibition, this Order does not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any state employee from sending to, or receiving from, federal immigration authorities, information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual, as required by law.
3. No law enforcement officers shall inquire about an individual’s immigration status unless investigating such individual’s illegal activity, provided however that such inquiry is relevant to the illegal activity under investigation. Nothing in this section shall restrict law enforcement officers from seeking documents for the purpose of identification following arrest.
a. This prohibition against inquiring into status includes, but is not limited to, when an individual approaches a law enforcement officer seeking assistance, is the victim of a crime, or is witness to a crime.
b. Law enforcement officers may not use resources, equipment or personnel for the purpose of detecting and apprehending any individual suspected or wanted only for violating a civil immigration offense. Law enforcement officers have no authority to take any police action solely because the person is an undocumented alien. This includes identifying, questioning, detaining, or demanding to inspect federal immigration documents.
G I V E N under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State in the City of Albany this fifteenth day of September in the year two thousand seventeen.
BY THE GOVERNOR
Secretary to the Governor
Additional news available at www.governor.ny.gov
New York State | Executive Chamber |press.office@exec.ny.gov | 518.474.8418
Hurricane Irma Resources
Dear colleagues,
Our thoughts and prayers are with the communities across Florida, the Southeast, and the Caribbean impacted by the devastation left by Hurricane Irma.
NAPABA and our Florida affiliates, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Tampa Bay, the Asian American Bar Association of South Florida, and the Greater Orlando Asian American Bar Association are working with community leaders to assist with the recovery and support the Asian Pacific American and other communities.
To assist attorneys and community members find resources and information for the Asian Pacific American community, we have updated our Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma disaster relief toolkit to direct you to information and opportunities to engage with legal services organizations.
Requests for legal assistance should be directed to Florida’s Disaster Legal Services hotline at 1-866-550-2929. We encourage Florida barred attorneys to sign up to provide pro bono services for this program—sponsored by the American Bar Association and the Florida Bar—by clicking here.
I am heartened by the response of the legal community to support those affected by these recent disasters during the long recovery process. Together, we can continue to represent our profession’s highest values and serve those in need.
Sincerely,
Cyndie M. Chang
NAPABA President 2016–17
Important Information for Those Interested in Attending the Diversity Career Fair and Expo (DCF) at the 2017 AABANY Fall Conference
If you are planning to attend the DCF please note the following:
- The DCF is being held in conjunction with AABANY’s Fall Conference at Fordham Law School, on Saturday, September 23. To attend the DCF you must first be registered for the Fall Conference. You must also complete an intake form. DCF is scheduled to take place from 10:30 am to 4 pm. More details here on the Fall Conference website.
- Registration is open via the AABANY website at http://bit.ly/fc17reg
- If you are an AABANY member who has not paid to attend the Fall Conference, you can attend DCF – and only DCF – for free. You may NOT attend any of the programs at the Fall Conference, including the lunch session and the cocktail reception at the end of the day.
- To register to attend DCF for free as an AABANY member, click here.
- If you are not an AABANY member, you can join online and pay the appropriate membership fee at http://www.aabany.org/?page=J2. Once you have done that, follow the instructions above in paragraph 4.
- If you are not an AABANY member and you are not interested in joining but you wish to attend DCF, then you must register for and pay to attend the Fall Conference at http://bit.ly/fc17reg.
- The deadline to sign up for onsite interviews passed on Sept. 7.
- If you have not already done so, please submit a copy of your resume to resume@aabany.org by Thursday, Sept. 14. In the subject line, please list 2017 DCF, your name and “Informational Tables.” Your resume will be included in a resume book that will be circulated to participating employers.
If you have any questions about DCF, contact careers@aabany.org.
ASIAN AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK HONORS RANDALL T. ENG WITH NORMAN LAU KEE TRAILBLAZER AWARD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK – Sept. 8, 2017 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) is proud to announce that the Hon. Randall T. Eng, Presiding Justice, Appellate Division, Second Department, will be the recipient of the Norman Lau Kee Trailblazer Award at AABANY’s Eighth Annual Fall Conference on September 23, 2017, to be held at the Fordham University School of Law.
Named for Norman Lau Kee, a revered legal and community pillar of New York City’s Chinatown for decades, this Trailblazer Award honors an accomplished leader in the legal profession who is of Asian Pacific American (APA) descent or has demonstrated dedication to APA issues in the community. This award honors an individual who has carved a path for others to follow, served the community as a mentor and role model, and has made a lasting impact on the APA community through his or her dedication and commitment.
Hon. Randall T. Eng was a groundbreaker long before he was appointed by Governor Cuomo to be the first APA Presiding Justice of an Appellate Division in New York. A graduate of St. John’s University School of Law, Justice Eng served as New York’s first APA Assistant District Attorney in 1973. He later became the first APA judge in New York in 1983, when Mayor Edward Koch appointed him to the Criminal Court of the City of New York.
Justice Eng was elected to two terms as Justice of the New York Supreme Court in 1990 and 2004, and in 2007 became the first Asian American Administrative Judge of the Queens County Supreme Court, Criminal Term. A former colonel of the New York Army National Guard, adjunct professor of law at St. John’s University School of Law, and Inspector General of the New York City Correction Department, Justice Eng’s career shines brightly as an exemplar of both service and groundbreaking pioneering ability.
Born in China, Justice Eng moved to the United States with his family when he was just six months old. His father, an Air Force veteran of World War II, opened a laundry and cleaning store in Queens—one of the few options available for Asian and immigrant families during that time. Aware from an early age of the barriers that awaited him if he tried to pursue law, Justice Eng remained, in his own words, “undaunted…because that was the era of civil rights.” It is that undaunted spirit of Justice Eng’s that has made him a trailblazer and an inspiration for Asian Americans in the legal community and throughout the country.
Today, Justice Eng plays a key role in the development of jurisprudence and judicial policy in New York as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department. The ten counties under its purview make Justice Eng’s Appellate Division one of the nation’s busiest. From supervising the court’s various agencies to being the Second Department’s Chief Administrator, Justice Eng has significant responsibilities at one of the highest levels of the state’s judiciary system. All the while, he has helped to pave the way for generations of APA lawyers in government, and remains an uplifting example for the APA community.
“At a time when the obstacles that face APAs in the law seem innumerable, Justice Randall T. Eng through his career has blazed a trail toward a more promising future for APAs in the legal profession and inspired generations of lawyers,” states AABANY President Dwight Yoo. “AABANY is honored to present Justice Eng the Norman Lau Kee Trailblazer Award at its Eighth Annual Fall Conference.”
For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (212) 332-2478, or direct any inquiries to main@aabany.org.
The Asian American Bar Association of New York is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community. Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole. AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).
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