4th Annual NAPABA Pro Bono & Public Interest Summit
Dear NAPABA members,
The Pro Bono Community Service Committee is pleased to invite you to the Pro Bono & Public Interest Summit on Thursday November 7 from 9-2 pm to kick off the 25th Annual NAPABA Convention. CLE credit is available.
This year’s Summit will feature panels on Health Care Reform and Immigration Reform and its impact on Asian Pacific American (APA) communities. We are pleased to have Delegate Mark Keam from the Virginia House of Delegates as our lunch speaker. Delegate Keam is the first APA immigrant to serve the General Assembly in Virginia’s 400 year history. He has a long history of community service, including a variety of local, state, and national organizations.
Pro bono is important to all of us. Each affiliate and each lawyer should be helping our communities in these efforts. Bar leaders are especially encouraged to attend. Even if you are not in bar leadership, this session will give you valuable insight into current issues, the state of the law and provide you with tools and knowledge to handle pro bono cases in your state. Many of you will want to have a clinic or other pro bono project this year—the Summit will help you accomplish that goal.
Attendance is free and lunch is available at a nominal cost. All lunch fee proceeds will be donated to Legal Aid of Western Missouri. Click here for more information on the Summit.
WNYC News – Immigration Courts Closed Due to the Shutdown
WNYC News – Immigration Courts Closed Due to the Shutdown
Nassira Hamdi was supposed to walk out of an immigration court in Federal Plaza this week with an approval for a green card. But that court, like 14 others across the U.S., is closed due to the shutdown.
Tsui Yee, Partner at Guerrero Yee and Co-Chair of the Immigration and Nationality Law Committee, was recently quoted in this WNYC news article on the impact of the government shutdown on pending immigration cases. Tsui was quoted as follows:
In New York State, over 50,000 cases are currently pending. The Department of Justice, which oversees immigration courts, is currently only continuing hearings for immigrants who are detained. Hamdi’s attorney, Tsui Yee said several of her other clients’ appointments have also been canceled.
“We have been waiting for this day for months, if not years,” she said. “Each of my clients’ cases took, I would say on average, three to four years to make its way through the entire court process. … So it’s just very frustrating.”
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The 2013 NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference hosted by Weil Gotshal featured a packed afternoon with several CLEs to keep attendees busy. Session 3 commenced at 2:30 pm and CLE topics included: “How do GCs Manage Crisis and Government Investigations,” “E-discovery and the New Ethical Rules for Non-Litigators,” “The Right to Vote: Asian Americans and the Struggle Over who Can Vote and How,” and much more, including the afternoon portion of the all-day Trial Advocacy Program (TAP).
“How do GCs Manage Crisis and Government Investigations” was one of our most popular CLE programs. The panel was moderated by Don Liu, Corporate Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Xerox. Panelists included Stuart Alderoty, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel at HSBC, Bruce Bettigole, Partner at Sutherland, Katy Choo, Chief Investigative & Anti-Corruption Counsel at General Electric, and Sandra Leung, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Session 4 started at 4PM with well-attended CLEs: “The Partner Track: Fiction v. Reality,” “Common Sense Immigration Reform,” and “General Counsel Roundtable.”
Outside of the CLE programs, Robert Leung, Michael Park, and Gurinder Singh, of the newly formed AABANY Career Placement Committee, held one-on-one meetings throughout the day, in the morning and afternoon, with many individuals interested in the participating in the committee and the AABANY Career Exchange.
Many thanks to all of our speakers and moderators for contributing their time in preparing for and serving on their panels. AABANY would like to thank all staff, volunteers and attendees for participating in the conference.
WHIAAPI Forum on Faith-Based and Community Leaders: 9/21
Save the Date
New York AAPI Forum with Faith-Based & Community Leaders
Saturday, September 21, 2013
The City University New York Murphy Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10036
9:30 A.M. – 3:00 P.M.
The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will convene federal officials and faith-based and community leaders in a day-long forum to share key Administration policies on economic growth, immigration, education, and civil rights. The forum will provide leaders and the broader AAPI community critical information and a better understanding of federal resources and services.
The focus of the WHIAAPI Community Forum is to accomplish three key goals:
1. Establish a space where faith-based and community leaders can meaningfully engage and interact with federal officials;
2. Identify policy and programmatic areas of concern, receive feedback, and share local success stories and practices that benefit the AAPI community;
3. Share opportunities for leaders to collaborate with the Obama administration.
Volunteers needed for August 22nd Civil Disobedience Actions at Varick Street Detention Center
We have been informed by NYIC (New York Immigration Coalition) that there is a critical need for legal observers for the civil disobedience actions on August 22 outside of the Varick Street Detention Center. The CD Actions will occur around 12:30 PM. Below is more information regarding the civil disobedience actions:
Highlighting our Broken Immigration System (August 22 @ 11AM – 1PM with Civil Disobedience Actions around 12:30PM/ Varick Street Detention Center)
- What: With every passing day that the House fails to act, 1100 people are deported. Our families and communities continue to suffer as a result of a broken immigration system and the Republican House dragging their feet.
- What do we want: John Boehner to act NOW to keep our families together. The event will start with a Jericho Walk that will escalate with 20+ people engaged in civil disobedience (blocking traffic and entrance to detention center). Supporters who do not want to be arrested will line the sidewalk chanting, holding signs and bearing witness.CD training (likely day before) and legal support will be provided. Negotiations with the NYPD are underway (aiming for dismissal of any charges).
Please consider supporting this event by either showing up and cheering those who will be engaging in civil disobedience; engaging in civil disobedience (arrestees); or volunteering to be a legal observer! If anyone is interested in participating, please contact Christina Chang, Advocacy & Organizing Coordinator at MinKwon Center for Community Action at christina.chang@minkwon.org or 718.460.5600.
All, this is a friendly reminder to RSVP to participate in the civil disobedience action outside Varick St Detention Center on Aug. 22 at NOON. For those who would like to participate but do not wish to face arrest, you can participate in the direct action only.
Please note there will be a training for Civil Disobedience participants on Monday, August 19th at 2 p.m. at St. Peter’s Church located at 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, New York, NY 10022. Please RSVP to rrchanges@gmail.com and jesposito@thenyic.org.
Let’s stand together to tell Congress the time is NOW to pass reform. Our communities and families cannot wait any longer for real reform
From the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs: Host a Community Conversation on Immigration
Receive $200 for hosting a conversation
Community-based groups and organizations are eligible to receive a $200 stipend from the Council for hosting a Community Conversation by registering to be a featured site. Featured sites must register their event in advance and complete a final evaluation, including attendance information. Facilitators at featured sites are required to attend a free 60-minute facilitator-training webinar. Training webinars will be offered at the following throughout the summer and fall; see the Council’s webinars page to learn more and sign up.
For more information about hosting a Community Conversation, contact Senior Program Officer Erika Halstead (ehalstead@nyhumanities.org / 212.233.1131).
New Community Conversations Toolkits on Immigration
From New Netherland to New York, immigrants from every part of the world have made their home in our state. Community Conversations invites New Yorkers to explore our shared history as immigrants and the descendants of immigrants, and to discuss the ways that immigration continues to shape the experience of being American today. Each conversation uses a short text as a starting point for discussions about cultural understanding and our roles as active citizens in a diverse and democratic society.
There are community conversation toolkits for children, young adults, and adults. All of the toolkits contain everything you need to host these “do-it-yourself” discussions, including: texts suitable for each audience; a set of sample questions; guidelines for starting and sustaining good conversations; tips for hosting a conversation; and a sample participant evaluation. Anyone can register and download the toolkits for free from our website.
Tsui Yee’s Interview with The Epoch Times
Tsui Yee’s Interview with The Epoch Times
Congratulations to Immigration and Nationality Law Committee Co-Chair Tsui Yee who was interviewed in the May 24, 2013 edition of Epoch Times, a Chinese-language daily newspaper, regarding the hot topic of comprehensive immigration reform. For more about the article follow the link in the title.