By Amy Klosterman

On March 3 and 4, 317 people attended the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) Northwest Regional Immigration Law Conference, cosponsored by the King County Bar Association’s CLE section. AILA is the nation’s largest organization for immigration lawyers; it is active in providing CLE and advocacy for its members and for immigrants nationwide. The proceeds from the conference will be split evenly between AILA and the King County Bar Association, whose share will be used to fund legal services for immigrants. One of the KCBA’s Neighborhood Legal Clinics is an immigration clinic.

The conference included presentations by immigration practitioners as well as attorneys and high-ranking officials from the parts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that deal with immigrants. These include Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which enforces laws along U.S. borders; Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), which processes all visas for non citizens; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which prosecutes noncitizens for immigration offenses.

“A Kid in a Candy Store”

On the first day of the conference, CIS Ombudsman Prakash Khatri gave a lunchtime presentation. Mr. Khatri, formerly in private immigration practice, described his excitement at being approached with the proposal of a new CIS position in which he could point out all of the things that needed fixing and make recommendations. His job is quite unique. One of his responsibilities is to issue a yearly independent report to Congress. This report does not get reviewed or commented on by any of his superiors at CIS, DHS, or the Office of Management and Budget before he submits it. He described feeling like “a kid in a candy store” at his job, given the wide latitude he has in making his suggestions.

Mr. Khatri acknowledged that CIS has some problem areas. He stated that his management philosophy was to find quick solutions to problems, then reduce the size of the government entity. However, he also admitted that the nationwide service centers that process visa applications are backlogged and have benefited from hiring increases.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims Increase at Immigration Court

On March 3, the conference included a roundtable panel with all three of Seattle’s immigration judges: the Honorables Kenneth Josephson, Edward Kandler, and Victoria Young; along with their Court Administrator, Joseph Neifert, and Lead Counsel for DHS, Dorothy Stefan.

Ms. Stefan addressed the fact that ineffective assistance of counsel claims have increased at the Seattle Immigration Court. Immigrants are especially vulnerable to ineffective assistance of counsel, as they often do not speak English, are rarely familiar with U.S. law, and are not aware that they can complain about their attorneys. Ms. Stefan provided suggestions to combat this rise, including that AILA could provide outreach and information for non-members on its website or through a helpline. An AILA member from Portland noted that, in that city, the immigration court staff sometimes shares its fears about particular practitioners with other practitioners, who see to it that the problem attorneys are contacted. Ms. Stefan noted that it is important for immigration practitioners to do self-policing, because it is not always well-received when ICE attorneys share their concerns.

Immigration Practitioners Speak Out against the REAL ID Act

Other speakers at the conference included Lory Rosenberg, formerly a judge with the Board of Immigration Appeals and currently Director of the Defending Immigrants Partnership at the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA). She shared some of her expertise regarding waivers to removeability and federal court practice, and also warned conference attendees to pay close attention to the REAL ID Act, current proposed federal legislation.

This legislation purports to limit drivers’ licenses to people who can prove citizenship, and would affect the state of Washington. More importantly, Ms. Rosenberg pointed out that this law contains many harmful provisions that restrict relief for some of the most vulnerable immigrants, including asylum seekers who flee persecution. In particular, asylum seekers who are deemed credible will be forced to show corroborating evidence of their persecution, unless such evidence is not available or they would have to leave the country to get it. Corroborating evidence is notoriously difficult to get; persecutors tend not to leave paper trails.

Paul Zulkie, AILA’s national president, also urged attendees to mobilize against the REAL ID act. He stated that this act “will do nothing to make us safer” and noted that it will bring on such ills as denying asylum to those who cannot prove that their persecution was the central motive of their persecutor. He noted that there was no Congressional hearing for this act, and there was only one day of debate in the House before it passed easily.

Mr. Zulkie urged conference attendees to counter the Act by participating in AILA’s Contact Congress Day, March 15, and National Lobby Day, March 17. He emphasized that stopping the REAL ID Act is a major priority for AILA.

A Rewarding Way to Fulfill RPC 6.1’s Pro Bono Service Recommendations

Seattle is lucky to have a very active non-profit legal services organization dedicated to serving immigrants: the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP). Many NWIRP staff were extensively involved with this conference. Matt Adams, legal director for NWIRP’s Granger office, won an AILA award for an important victory in the Ninth Circuit, Hernandez-Guadarrama v. Ashcroft, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 339. NWIRP has many cases available for referral to volunteer pro bono attorneys. Attorneys need not specialize in immigration law to take cases--WIRP provides excellent mentoring and technical support, as well as regular CLE’s. Those interested can contact NWIRP’s pro bono coordinator, Amy Kratz, at amy@nwirp.org or (206)587-4009.