Category: Education

Rosenberg, Schmidt Reunite For “Mastermind First 100 Days” Online Seminar On Tuesday, January 31, 2017!

My good friend and former BIA colleague, Hon. Lory Rosenberg writes:

“I’m proud to announce that my former BIA colleague, Immigration Judge Paul W. Schmidt (Ret.) will join us as a special guest for the very first meeting of IDEAS First 100 Days Mastermind, at 4PM ET next Tuesday, January 31st!

I’ve invited Judge Schmidt to freely share his thoughts and ideas with us, as well as to participate fully in our mastermind discussion.
As we dig through the existing labrynthine immigration statute – the one with the unfixed ’96 — and as we confront the ill-advised, anti-immigrant Executive Orders just signed by President Trump – the ones that abrogate our refugee protection obligations – l know Judge Schmidt’s wisdom and reflections will provide priceless inspiration and guidance.”

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Thanks for the kind words, Lory!  The feeling is mutual.  For more information on the seminar, go on over to Lory’s Mastermind website at:

http://www.loryrosenberg.com/First100days

PWS

01/28/17

Related posts:

  1. WASHINGTON POST: GONZO’S IMMIGRATION COURT “REFORMS” WILL CREATE “KANGAROO COURTS!” —Recent “moves to evaluate judges based on the speed with which they handle dockets that typically exceed 2,000 cases, rather than on fair adjudication, is a recipe for assembly-line injustice.”
  2. HOW “AMERICA’S KILLER COURTS” PROMOTE “CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” — HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: TRUMP & HIS WHITE NATIONALIST SYCOPHANTS & TOADIES TOUT LAWLESS POLICIES THAT VIOLATE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS & HELP KILL, RAPE, TORTURE THOSE RETURNED TO EL SALVADOR — Supremes & Article III Judiciary Complicit In Gross Human Rights Violations! 
  3. JOURNAL ON MIGRATION & HUMAN SOCIETY (“JMHS”) PUBLISHES MY TRIBUTE TO JUAN OSUNA (1963-2017): “An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era”
  4. COMPLICITY HAS COSTS:  Article III Judges’ Association Apparently Worries That Trump, Barr, GOP Toadies Starting To “Treat Them Like Immigration Judges” — Do They Fear Descent To Status Of Mere Refugees, Immigrants, “Dreamers,” Unaccompanied Children, Or Others Treated As “Less Than Persons” By Trump, 5th Cir., 11th Cir., 9th Cir., & The Supremes’ “J.R. Five?” 

Optimists’ Corner: Human Dialogue Overcomes Political Divide At Busboys & Poets

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/01/24/not-race-not-gender-just-american-these-white-men-left-their-black-waitress-an-uplifting-note-and-a-450-tip/?postshare=4291485513678958&tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.b959856dabfa

Colby Ikowitz writes in the Washington Post:

“But she said the men left her with so much more. Their words were a reminder not to make assumptions. And that so many Americans want unity, regardless of their politics, and to not be afraid to connect with someone as human beings, she said.

“This definitely reshaped my perspective. Republican, Democrat, liberal are all subcategories to what we are experiencing,” she said. “It instills a lot of hope.”

For White, he said he wanted to show her that they probably have more in common than it would appear.

“As I sat there I thought about the entire weekend and I thought I don’t know her, she doesn’t know me, but if most Americans have a preconceived perception about people then we’re never going to get better,” he said.”

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This “upbeat” take on today’s politics was forwarded to me by my ever optimistic friend, neighbor, and fellow dog walker Professor Alberto Benítez from GW Law. Teacher, role model, and steadfast advocate for social justice, human dignity, and understanding, Professor Benítez and his Clinic Students have been saving lives while doing good in the Arlington Immigration Court for many years. Lots of his alums are out there “making a difference every day” in Government, private practice, the NGO community, and academia.

One of the many great things the Professor has taught his student-attorneys is who really makes our justice system work at the “retail level:” of course, it is the dedicated, hard working, professional court staff who can tell you more about what the practice of law is actually about than almost any judge, prosecutor, or academic.  When I worked at Dane County Legal Services after my first year at U.W. Law, my supervising attorney immediately took me over to the courthouse and introduced me to the folks in the Clerk’s Office. He said “These are the people who are going to make you or break you as a lawyer, so treat them well and they’ll show you the ropes.” It’s a lesson I never forgot.

Another great thing about Professor Benítez is his “Wisconsin connection” through his wonderful wife Janice, a native of the famous Fox River Valley metropolis of Oshkosh (by gosh, there really is such a place)!

PWS

01/27/17

Related posts:

  1. MY MOST RECENT SPEECHES: “MY LIFE & TIMES” — CATHOLIC LEGAL IMMIGRATION NETWORK (“CLINIC”), July 18, 2017; “JOIN THE ‘NEW DUE PROCESS ARMY’ — FIGHT FOR DUE PROCESS IN THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION COURTS” — HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST, JULY 19, 2017
  2. U.S. IMMIGRATION COURTS APEAR STACKED AGAINST CENTRAL AMERICAN ASYLUM APPLICANTS — Charlotte, NC Approval Rates Far Below Those Elsewhere In 4th Circuit — Is Precedent Being Misapplied?
  3. ARLINGTON IMMIGRATION COURT: ANOTHER WIN FOR THE GOOD GUYS! – GW CLINIC HELPS EL SALVADORAN WOMAN & CHILDREN GET ASYLUM!
  4. 😎🗽⚖️ OF COURSE, GREAT LAWYERING MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN IMMIGRATION COURT! — Only Nativists & Former Director McHenry Would Bogusly Claim Otherwise! — Another “Real Life Success Story” From Professors Benitez & Vera @ The GW Law Immigration Clinic! — Garland’s DOJ “Goes Molasses In November” On Improving Access To Counsel & Elevating The “Pro Bono Experience!”

“Dreamers” Worry About Fate of DACA — Under Trump Administration, What Will Happen To The Lives They Have Built In America?

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0104/For-immigrant-Dreamers-an-uncertain-future

“There is much at stake, too, for undocumented immigrants like Brady, who have grown up, gone to school, and struggled to make sense of their futures.

“I was just a kid when I came, and I really didn’t know what immigration status really meant,” says Brady, who grew up and attended public schools in Washington Heights, which New Yorkers often call “Little DR” because of the many Dominican immigrants who live there. “I wasn’t really worrying about it until my senior year in high school when I had to start thinking about colleges.”

“But when I started to really understand what my life was going to be like, I started freaking out, I started to panic,” she continues. “Why was I going to school? What is the point of going to college if I couldn’t get a career if I was an illegal immigrant?”

She pressed on, doing what a lot of low-income New Yorkers do. She volunteered at a home for the elderly, she attended summer academic programs, she made her high school honor roll and tutored younger peers.

And after getting accepted to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, she worked long hours as a bartender, off the books, to pay her way. It was overwhelming, she says, until she got a scholarship from a local civic group. “I was over the moon, full of joy and crying and happy after getting it,” she says.

She loved her days tutoring and eventually decided to become a teacher.

“As cliché and corny as this sounds, it’s like some people just have their calling,” the graduate student now says. “It took me a while to figure it out, but it truly makes my heart happy.”

Yet she still felt that she was “living in the shadows, being a part of something, but not really,” during her 20 years coming of age in the United States. Now married to a US citizen, she says Obama’s order finally helped her become “DACA-mented,” as many Dreamers call it, and be authorized to teach math in New York City public schools.”

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The possibility of a legislative compromise to help the “Dreamers” while beefing up immigration enforcement is discussed in this article by Nolan Rappaport in The Hill:

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/immigration/311243-gop-immigration-bill-gives-dreamers-a-break-hardliners-a-bone

It was also discussed in my blog of 12/30/16.

PWS

01/05/17

Related posts:

  1. THE HILL: NOLAN UNIMPRESSED BY “GANG OF SIX’S” DREAMER COMPROMISE EFFORT!
  2. NOLAN RAPPAPORT @ THE HILL: PERHAPS, THE PARTIES NEED TO COME UP WITH A NEW SYSTEM THAT COMBINES “FAMILY REUNIFICATION” WITH “MERIT-BASED” FACTORS!
  3. PAUL WALDMAN @ WASHPOST: Why True Bipartisan Immigration Reform In Our National Interest Will Require “Regime Change:” “[I]t’s highly unlikely that we’ll achieve such reform, even reform most Republicans could live with, without both houses of Congress and the White House in Democratic hands. But that will happen sooner or later. Then we’ll see if we can get closer to a solution that everyone can live with over the long run.”
  4. TAL @ CNN SAYS “GANG OF SIX” STILL WORKING FURIOUSLY TO GET BIPARTISAN SUPPORT AS BUDGET CRISIS LOOMS EVER CLOSER!

Maryland Schools Move to Quell Migrant Student Fears

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/schools-warn-of-increased-student-fears-due-to-immigration-arrests-trump-election/2016/12/26/a4b2b732-c0a7-11e6-b527-949c5893595e_story.html?utm_term=.9fd1b4cc1447

“Much of what schools want to convey is that students are not in peril when they are on campus.

Student absences do not appear to have spiked in recent weeks, but Nora Morales, diversity officer in the Prince George’s school system, said the district wants to make sure that families understand educators do not ask about immigration status and would not share such information if they knew it.

‘My primary concern is that our school community knows our schools are safe spaces and that students will be valued, respected and welcomed,’ she said. ‘There are a lot of unanswered questions about immigration reform. One thing remains constant: If kids don’t show up to school, they won’t learn.'”

As a Judge, my advice to youth coming before me was:  “Go to school, study hard, get all the education that you possibly can. However your case comes out, your education belongs to you.  Nobody can take it away from you, and it will make your life better.”  I usually asked them about their grades, as well as their extracurricular activities.  If there were any below “B,” I made them promise to improve.  Most of them  brought their report cards showing improvement to the next hearing.  I also told them they needed to help their parents around the house.

Many of them had parents working two jobs.  The older kids were basically in charge of the household, in addition to going to school, and often playing soccer, playing in the band, or being in the science club.   Remarkable young people.

PWS

12/27/16

Related posts:

  1. JURIST: Christopher N. Lasch Says Sessions More Interested In Politics Than Justice!
  2. TAL KOPAN AT CNN: Alarm Bells Ring As DACA Renewals Lag At Deadline! — Administration Refuses To Extend Deadline Despite Hurricanes & Inadequate Publicity! — Politico Reports That White House Racist Stephen Miller Planning To Torpedo Dreamer Relief — Immigration System & Country Facing Chaos!
  3. LAW YOU CAN USE: HON. JEFFREY CHASE ANALYZES EFFECT OF SENDING CHILDREN TO COUNTRY OF ASYLUM – POTENTIALLY PROBLEMATIC, BUT NOT NECESSARILY FATAL!
  4. THE TRUTH IS OUT, THANKS TO MICHELLE MENDEZ @ CLINIC: Practice Pointers on Matter of Castillo-Perez & “Takeaways” From FOIA Trove On In Absentias!