Yesterday, I returned to Tijuana for my second visit to Casa Del Migrante, a shelter that helps recent deportees with no place to go when they arrive in Mexico. Along with 25 other attorneys, I helped screen more than 80 people for immigration relief. Buried among many sad stories of families torn apart and lives turned upside down, we found two potential derivative U.S. citizens, as well several people who likely qualify for U visas or may be eligible for humanitarian parole. The work is heart wrenching - it's impossible to imagine the true consequences of deportation until you sit down with someone and see the tears well up in their eyes as they talk about the relatives still in the United States, desperately trying to find a way to cope with the financial and emotional loss of a loved one. But despite the emotional toll it can take, it's good work. These people need to understand their legal status, even if the only advice an attorney can give is that they have to stay outside the United States for an extended period of time (often 10 years) before they can start the process of legally immigrating. Some of them don't even have that option. My hat is off to my good friend and colleague, Nora Phillips, who organizes these trips, and who is working on a starting a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing legal assistance to deportees. There is still much work to be done, and she's leading the crusade to do it.
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Office Happenings
From time to time I blog about fun experiences I have as an attorney. Last week, I was a guest lecturer for a Civil Rights course at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. I gave the students some background information on the current Central American refugee crisis. We talked about the difficulties that unaccompanied minors face in the court system (especially if they don't have an attorney) and the family detention nightmare. I showed them youtube clips of attorneys who volunteered their time in Artesia, New Mexico, and we brainstormed how non-lawyers could organize in a meaningful way to help these families. It was a ton of fun for me, and I hope as much for the students, too!
As I've posted about a couple of times, I've been working with a church group that cares deeply about immigrants' rights. They are particularly passionate about protecting the rights of child refugees. The group, called the Guardian Angels, was featured in the Los Angeles Times today. A picture of me training some of their church volunteers is included with the print copy of the newspaper. The article is on pages B-1 and B-5 of the LA Times.
A link to the online article is here: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-guardian-angels-20150217-story.html
On Tuesday, I embarked on a new career as a university professor.....for one night. A colleague and friend of mine is a professor in the anthropology department at California State University, Los Angeles, and she invited me to be a guest lecturer for the second year in a row. This year, I put together a fun exercise on the use of language in the immigration law (the class had a linguistics focus).
I presented the class with a phrase or pair of phrases found in the immigration law (i.e. "extreme hardship" and "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship") and asked them what they thought the phrases meant. When working with a pair of phrases, we brainstormed what the difference between the phrases might be (i.e. is extreme hardship more or less hardship than exceptional and extremely unusual hardship). After the conversation, I revealed the meaning of the phrase in the immigration law.
The students were so participatory and had so many fabulous ideas. The discussion about "good moral character," in particular, sparked a lively debate - is adultery worse than theft? What about a DUI?
It was great fun for me, and I hope to be able to do it again soon!
As a person, I (like everyone else) try to make new year's resolutions every year: to eat healthier, to go to the gym more often, to spend more time with my friends and family, to volunteer more in my community, etc. But this year, I'm making a new year's resolution as an attorney, too. A large part of my practice is appellate work, and I've been blessed to build relationships with my own clients, as well as with other attorneys who refer appellate clients to me and who seek my assistance with their appeals. Thus far, I've confined my work to cases arising in the Ninth Circuit, where I am most familiar with the governing law. To stay updated, I visit the Ninth Circuit's website almost daily, and blog about new case law. In 2015, I will expand my efforts to all circuits. I have already bookmarked the websites of other circuits, and will try to keep on top of new decisions impacting immigration cases, and blog about them with the same regularity that I write about Ninth Circuit cases. By doing this, I hope to sharpen my skills as an appellate attorney and better serve my clients (both non-citizen and attorneys alike). Wish me luck in my new endeavor!
Yesterday, I traveled to a church in Glendale, where I met with a pastor and a group of congregants who are very interested in immigration issues and in welcoming new immigrants to our community. I gave them a presentation on some of the highlights of President Obama's November 20, 2014, announcement regarding executive action on immigration.
I also talked with them about how important it was to be on the watch for notario fraud. In many parts of Latin America, notarios are actually individuals with legal training (much different than notary publics in the United States). Many immigrants seek their assistance in the United States, not understanding the difference in educational backgrounds between the American and Latin American counterparts. The results are often disastrous, with many individuals subsequently being deported from the United States as a result of a notario's shoddy work. Our neighbors, our friends, our churchmates - these are the people who have waited so long to come out of the shadows, and they will be the targets of unscrupulous individuals seeking to take advantage of them.
I encourage everyone to educate themselves and anyone they know about who benefits from these programs, when the applications will be available, and how to know if someone is trying to victimize you with a scam. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has put together some great materials on administrative relief and notario fraud.
You can read their materials on administrative relief here: http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?bc=6755|37861|47963
You can read their materials on notario fraud here: http://www.stopnotariofraud.org/
In addition, if you belong to any group (i.e. a religious congregation, a social club, etc.) in the Los Angeles area that has members who you think could benefit from learning about the administrative relief programs and the dangers of notary fraud, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will be happy to speak with them!
I spent my first day as a solo practitioner providing free legal consultations to people in Tijuana, Mexico. The legal fair was held at Casa Del Migrante, an organization serving deportees and refugees. At least half a dozen attorneys from Southern California made the trip. As always, I was amazed at the breadth of knowledge my colleagues possess, and the compassion that they constantly display.
Almost everyone I spoke with had suffered the traumatic consequences of a removal order. Some of them had been deported only a few weeks ago. Many of them still had family in the United States, including young, U.S.-citizen children. Thinking about their broken families was heartbreaking, but hearing their resolve to find a way to continue supporting their relatives, even from Mexico, was inspiring. Some of them will be able to apply for lawful immigration status sometime in the future; a few are even able to apply now. Many of them just needed to know what their options were, even if those options did not include a return to the United States. I hope my advice will help some of them to plan for their futures.
I am pleased to announce the grand opening of the Law Office of Sabrina Damast, a full-service immigration law firm in Los Angeles, California...