Tag: DAPA

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Press Release: NAPABA Disappointed in Outcome of Immigration Case Heard by the U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is disappointed by the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court’s split decision announced today in United States v. Texas. The court did not reach a decision in a challenge to the President’s executive action on immigration, including the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The split outcome leaves in place the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision to block implementation of the programs.

“We are disappointed in the decision of the Supreme Court to not make a clear statement on the Fifth Circuit’s decision to enjoin the implementation of these important immigration policies. The outcome leaves over four million undocumented immigrants living in the shadow of deportation,” said NAPABA President Jin Y. Hwang. “Today’s result underscores the importance of Congress taking swift action to pass comprehensive immigration reform.”

The lower court in this case temporarily blocked the implementation of the expanded DACA and DAPA programs, which affected an estimated 4.9 million undocumented and vulnerable immigrants, including approximately 1.3 million Asian Pacific Americans. Under these programs, eligible applicants would not be a priority for deportation and could apply for a temporary work authorization. The original DACA program remains unaffected and more than 100,000 Asian Pacific Americans remain eligible for that program.

NAPABA, along with a diverse coalition of 325 immigration, civil rights, labor, and social service groups, including the National Immigration Law Center, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in this case to urge the Court to lift the injunction that has blocked the President’s executive action on immigration from moving forward. View the brief here.

For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at 202-775-9555 or [email protected].

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PRESS RELEASE: NAPABA Calls on the Justice Department to Appeal Fifth Circuit Decision on DAPA and expanded DACA

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For Immediate Release
Nov. 12, 2015

For More Information, Contact:
Brett Schuster, Communications Manager
[email protected], 202-775-9555

NAPABA Calls on the Justice Department to Appeal Fifth Circuit Decision on DAPA and expanded DACA

WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is deeply disappointed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Texas v. United States to continue to place on hold President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiatives. This decision prevents deportation relief to an estimated 4.9 million undocumented immigrants, of which an estimated 1.3 million are Asian Pacific American immigrants.

“The Fifth Circuit’s decision leaves millions of families in limbo and at risk of continuing to be torn apart,” said Jin Hwang, president of NAPABA. “NAPABA urges the U.S. Department of Justice to appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court so that implementation of these programs can move forward and families can receive needed relief. This decision highlights the need of Congress to pass legislation to address the problems in the immigration system.”  

This lawsuit was filed in December 2014 and blocks the implementation of temporary deferred action programs. Of the 1.3 million undocumented Asian Pacific Americans, an estimated 400,000 will benefit from this temporary relief. Supporting the need for comprehensive immigration reform has long been a priority for NAPABA.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of approximately 50,000 attorneys and approximately 75 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government.

NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.

To learn more about NAPABA, visit www.napaba.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter (@NAPABA).

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DACA & DAPA Trainings – Be Sure You’re Ready to Help!

Registration is now open!

A judge in Texas may have delayed the implementation of Administrative Relief, but he hasn’t stopped it! We need to continue preparing our communities so that when the court injunction is lifted, as many people can be ready to apply for expanded DACA or DAPA as possible.

The time is now to learn how to be fully prepared – to engage in outreach, respond to questions, and to learn how to pre-screen for eligibility and prepare cases for legal review. Since community groups are the trusted first point of contact for many immigrant New Yorkers, it is our aim to empower you with the tools and trainings needed to make sure you are ready for Administrative Relief.

To that end, we have developed a series of trainings for community partners. We encourage you to select a training that best suits your organization’s capacity and ability to work on Administrative Relief (specifically expanded DACA and DAPA):

Community Ambassador Training (3 hour training):
This is the ideal training for partners looking for a basic understanding of what President Obama’s November Executive Actions means and for instruction on how to educate our immigrant communities through public education, workshops and referrals. This training will teach groups how to answer basic questions on Administrative Relief, offer informational workshops, and help direct community members to local Community Navigators and legal service providers. We will discuss the difference between administrative relief and immigration reform, the substance of DACA and DAPA, and ways to prepare today.

Examples of participating organizations may be small CBOs that may not want to participate as full Community Navigators, or may be large social service agencies not set-up to provide immigration services but that interact with immigrants daily.

Upcoming Ambassador Trainings:

  • Rockland County: April 17th from 2pm to 5pm at the Rockland County BOCES Conference Center (65 Parrott Rd., Bldg. 10, West Nyack, NY)
  • New York City, Brooklyn: April 21st from 9am to 12pm at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Main Branch, (10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY)
  • New York City, Manhattan: May 5th from 9am to 12pm – Location TBD
  • Westchester County: May 8th from 10am to 1pm at the White Plains Public Library (100 Martine Ave, White Plains, NY)
  • Suffolk County: Tentatively May 22nd in Central Islip.
  • Nassau County: Tentatively June 12th in Garden City.

Community Navigator Training (full day training):

This is the ideal training for partners seeking to engage more deeply by conducting pre-screenings and referrals as well as by assisting in case preparation and document collection. This workshop will cover the basic track’s content but will also include an in-depth exploration of what role “community navigators” or non-attorneys can play in administrative relief preparation, the benefits of seeking BIA recognition and accreditation, and what requirements we expect for expanded DACA and DAPA. Groups will leave able to conduct basic eligibility pre-screenings, make direct referrals to legal providers, and help community members collect documents to submit with their application.

Examples of Participating organizations may be small to medium-sized CBOs looking to take a more active role in preparing communities for administrative relief, or organizations with limited legal capacity looking to play an expanded role in administrative relief that stresses community preparedness.

Upcoming Navigator Trainings:

  • New York City, Manhattan (& via livestream): April 1st from 9am to 5pm at New York Law School (185 W. Broadway, New York, NY)
  • Westchester County: May 19th from 9am to 5pm at Neighbors Link (27 Columbus Ave, Mount Kisco, NY)
  • Dutchess County: June 5th from 9am to 5pm at Catholic Charities Community Services Office for New Americans (218 Church St. Poughkeepsie, NY)
  • Suffolk County: Tentatively July 10th

We are currently planning our calendar for further trainings later this Spring, including more outside of New York City.

All trainings will include access to a Community Provider Toolkit, and ongoing technical assistance and training opportunities from the NYIC.

Visit www.Ready4Relief.org for future dates, locations, resources and additional information.

Beyond our partnerships for these trainings, all workshops and materials will be jointly conducted and released by the New York Immigrant Assistance Consortium, a partnership of immigrant-serving providers, community-based non-profits, state and local government agencies, and other stakeholders jointly convened by the New York State Office of New Americans and the New York Immigration Coalition. The aim of the Consortium is to ensure a coordinated strategy to reach, educate, and assist every New Yorker eligible for administrative relief. For more information about NYIAC and Administrative Relief please visitwww.Ready4Relief.org.

Should you have any questions, particularly around which training might be most ideal for your organization, please contact:Betsy Plum at [email protected] or (212) 627-2227, x240.

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AALDEF DACA/DAPA Training on Feb. 26, 2015

AALDEF seeks pro bono attorneys to represent eligible people who qualify under the expanded DACA and the new DAPA programs. Attorneys must attend an AALDEF training in order to take a case.

Training Date: February 26th at 6:30 pm
Location: Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, NYC
RSVP to [email protected]. Light dinner will be provided.

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A significant number of Asian immigrants are among an estimated 300,000 additional undocumented individuals who may benefit from an expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, for which applications will be accepted starting on February 18, 2015.  DACA offers temporary relief from the threat of deportation to young people and allows them to obtain employment authorization. Last November, the Obama administration announced the expansion of DACA and the creation of a new deferred action program known as DAPA for parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, which will begin in May 2015. For many, this will be the first opportunity to legally work and live in this country.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is seeking pro bono counsel to represent eligible people who qualify under these deferred action programs. No prior legal experience is required, but pro bono counsel will be required to attend a training prior to taking a case. These cases would help support the work of RAISE,  a pan-Asian undocumented youth-led group affiliated with AALDEF.

If you are interested in taking a DACA/DAPA case through AALDEF, please join us for the training on:

Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 6:30pm
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
One New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004

To register for the training, please email [email protected]. Light dinner will be provided.

Co-sponsored by:

Fried Frank Attorney of Color Affinity Group
Asian American Bar Association of New York  
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York
Muslim Bar Association of New York  
South Asian Bar Association of New York
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey

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Preparing for Deferred Action: Special Training on Thursday, Jan. 29

The Manhattan Family Justice Center is hosting a special training on the recent executive actions on immigration. Please see details below.

Thursday, Jan. 29th 2-4 pm
Preparing for Deferred Action
Facilitated by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs & NY Legal Assistance Group

Topics will include:

  • Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA)
  • Expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
  • NYC response, city-wide resources and referral networks

Location:

NYC Family Justice Center, Manhattan
80 Centre Street, 5th Floor Training Room
New York, NY 10013

Please e-mail [email protected] ASAP to reserve a spot. Space is limited.