Judge Claudia Cubas – immigrationcourtside.com

🇺🇸🦸🏽‍♀️🏆 NDPA LEADERBOARD: Professor Paulina Vera (GW Law) Joins Dean Kevin Johnson & Other Distinguished “Practical Scholars” On Hispanic National Bar Association (“HNBA”) National Task Force on Hispanic Law Faculty and Deans!

Paulina writes:

Excited to announce that I will be part of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) National Task Force on Hispanic Law Faculty and Deans! I am honored to be included in a group of Latine law professor giants, whom I have long admired. I look forward to continuing working on a personal passion of mine, which is diversifying the legal profession and legal academia. ¡Adelante!

Press release available here:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2023 Contact: Communications@HNBA.com

The Hispanic National Bar Association Launches New Task Force on

Law Faculty and Deans

Washington, DC – The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) announces the launch of the first-of-its-kind National Task Force on Hispanic Law Faculty and Deans, aimed at addressing the alarming lack of Hispanic/Latino representation among U.S. law school professors and administrators (including deans), as well as the shortage of professional development resources specifically for Hispanic/Latino professors, deans, and other administrators already in the legal academy.

According to the most recent ABA Profile of the Legal Profession, only 5.8% of lawyers in the U.S. are Hispanic/Latino, even though we constitute over 19% of the general population. The shortage of Hispanic/Latino lawyers across the nation mirrors the paucity of Hispanics in legal academia. Only 9 of the almost 200 deans of ABA-accredited law schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia are Hispanic/Latino. Estimates have the percentage of full-time Hispanic/Latino law professors at only 5%.

Hispanic/Latino law professors and law school deans are leaders of the profession and play seminal roles in educating future generations of lawyers and law-related professionals. Legal educators are visible role models and mentors to young people aspiring to careers in law. In addition, Hispanic/Latino legal academics – like other legal academics – frequently are tapped for senior government appointments, judgeships, and other key roles in our democracy. The urgency of this initiative is heightened further by the U.S. Supreme Court’s looming affirmative action decision, which threatens to make the shortage of Hispanic/Latino law students, lawyers, and legal academics even worse.

HNBA President Mariana Bravo has appointed as Co-Chairs of the Task Force Raquel M. Matas and Anthony E. Varona. Raquel Matas is the former Associate Dean for Administration at the University of Miami School of Law and has served as HNBA’s National Law School Liaison. Anthony E. Varona is Dean and Professor at Seattle University School of Law, the first law school dean of Hispanic/Latino heritage of any law school in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Varona was the first Hispanic/Latino dean at University of Miami School of Law, where he was appointed dean emeritus after the conclusion of his deanship.

President Bravo said, “An increase in the number of Hispanic/Latino law professors and law school deans will translate into an increase in law school enrollment by Hispanic and Latino/a students inspired by educators who hail from their same communities, share their backgrounds and struggles, and in many cases, share a bilingual heritage. The work of this Task Force is long overdue, and I am delighted that former Associate Dean Matas and Dean Varona, with many decades of distinguished nationally recognized service in legal education between them, will lead us in this important work.”

The Task Force will oversee the development of annual summer nationwide online workshops for prospective and existing Hispanic/Latino law faculty and law school deanship aspirants, through programs such as the Michael Olivas Summer Writing Institute and the GO LILA summer workshops, collaboration with other established workshops, and by organizing new initiatives to increase Hispanic and Latino/a diversity in the legal academy. The Task Force will plan in-person “how to become a law professor” workshops at the annual HNBA conferences, assist with matching law faculty and law dean aspirants with suitable mentors, support the professional development of and networking opportunities for currently appointed Hispanic/Latino law faculty, promote better data tracking by national accreditation and membership associations, and otherwise promote more Hispanic and Latino/a representation in the legal professoriate and decanal ranks.

In addition to Matas and Varona, the HNBA Task Force on Law Faculty and Deans will include as members nationally renowned legal education leaders, known for their dedication to diversifying the legal profession and the academy, including:

Dolores S. Atencio, Esq., Visiting Scholar, U. of Denver Latinx Center|Sturm College of Law

Steven Bender, Prof. & Assoc. Dean for Planning & Strategic Initiatives, Seattle U. School of Law

Kevin R. Johnson, Dean and Mabie-Apallas Prof. of Public Interest Law & Professor of Chicana/o Studies, UC Davis School of Law

José Roberto (Beto) Juárez, Jr., Dean & Prof., Nova Southeastern U. Broad College of Law

Jenny Martinez, Lang Prof. of Law and Dean, Stanford Law School

Margaret Montoya, Prof. Emerita of Law (and Medicine), U. of New Mexico

Jennifer Rosato Perea, Dean & Prof. of Law, DePaul U. College of Law

Hon. Jenny Rivera, Associate Judge, New York Court of Appeals

Ediberto Román, Prof. of Law, Florida International U. College of Law

Krista Contino Saumby, Esq., Assoc. Director of Career Dev., Elon University School of Law

Paulina Vera, Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington U. Law School

This Task Force shall operate as a Presidential Special Committee.

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The Hispanic National Bar Association is an incorporated, not-for-profit, national membership association that represents the interests of over 78,000+ Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistants, law students, and legal professionals in the United States and its territories. Since 1972, the HNBA has acted as a force for positive change within the legal profession by creating opportunities for Hispanic lawyers and by helping generations of lawyers to succeed.

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Congrats to Paulina, Dean Kevin Johnson, and all the other outstanding scholar/leaders named to this group. Another place where more diversity is long overdue is the Federal Bench. In particular, despite the disparate impact of Immigration Court decisions on Hispanic-American communities, they are underrepresented on the bench at EOIR.

As the awesome talent represented by this Task Force shows, it isn’t for lack of exceptionally well-qualified judicial candidates available in the private sector. It’s a recruiting and cultural problem at DOJ, along with severe credibility problems stemming from perceptions of overall hostility at EOIR to asylum seekers, other migrants, and their lawyers, often directed at Hispanics and other individuals of color. The “culture” at EOIR really can only be changed by getting on the “inside” — that means getting on the bench or into the EOIR supervisory structure.

I have spoken to the Hispanic National Bar Association and urged private sector lawyers with immigration, human rights, civil rights, and due process expertise to apply for Immigration Judge vacancies. https://immigrationcourtside.com/2021/04/08/⚖️🗽🧑🏽‍⚖️camille-j-mackler-just-security-gets-it-how-come-judge-garland-the-biden-admini/

On a positive note, one of my fellow panelists on that occasion, Hon. Claudia Cubas, is now an Immigration Judge at the Hyattsville (MD) Immigration Court!

I look forward to Paulina and other NDPA superstars 🌟 like her joining Judge Cubas on the bench in the near future. Positive change requires working “at all levels” to pump due process, fundamental fairness, and decisional excellence into a broken justice system.

Under AG Garland, at least some semblance of a “merit-based” selection system, one that honors immigration representation and human rights experience, has taken hold at EOIR. Therefore, Immigration Judge positions are the ideal “entry level” for those seeking careers in the Federal Judiciary.

Also, the “hands on” experience with making difficult decisions at the critical “retail level” of American justice will be an asset in any career path. Every correct decision at EOIR is potentially life-changing and life-saving! There aren’t many other areas where you can say that! These decisions are far, far too important to individuals and to our nation’s future to be left to the “amateur night at the Bijou” aura that unfortunately (tragically) has permeated EOIR in recent years!

Very proud to say that Paulina is a “distinguished alum” of the “Legacy” Arlington Immigration Court Internship Program and a “charter member” of the NDPA! 😎⚖️🗽

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

04-26-23

⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️JUDICIARY: DYNAMIC PRACTICAL SCHOLARS JUDGE CLAUDIA R. CUBAS, JUDGE AYODELE A. GANSALLO, & JUDGE KYLE E. DANDELET AMONG GARLAND’S PROMISING NEW APPOINTEES — Can “Change From Below” Eventually Bring “Equal Justice For All” & Decisional Excellence To The Broken, Battered, Backlogged, “Anti-Immigrant” Retail Level Of Our Justice System?

Claudia Cubas
Hon. Claudia R. Cubas
U.S. Immigration Judge
Hyattsville (MD) Immigration Court
Photo: berkleycenter.georgetown.edu

Claudia R. Cubas, Immigration Judge, Hyattsville Immigration Court

Claudia R. Cubas was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in March 2022. Judge Cubas earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2005 from the University of St. Thomas, in Houston, and a Juris Doctor in 2008 from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. From 2018 to 2022, she was the Litigation Director at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition in the District of Columbia. She held the following roles at the CAIR Coalition: from 2016 to 2018, Senior Program Director; from 2014 to 2016, Program Director; from 2013 to 2014, Supervising Attorney for the Legal Orientation Program; and from 2011 to 2012, Staff Attorney. From 2009 to 2011, she was an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow at the Central American Resource Center, in the District of Columbia. From 2008 to 2009, she was an Attorney in private practice. Judge Cubas is a member of the Maryland State Bar.

Judge Ayodele Gansallo — Hon. Ayodele Gansallo
U.S. Immigration Judge
Hyattsville (MD) Immigration Court
PHOTO: Penn Law

Ayodele A. Gansallo, Immigration Judge, Hyattsville Immigration Court

Ayodele A. Gansallo was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in March 2022. Judge Gansallo earned a Bachelor of Laws in 1985 from Leicester University, England. From 1985 to 1986, she attended the Guildford College of Law, and completed the program for Solicitors. She earned a Master of Laws from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1998. From 2021 to 2022, she was the Co-Director of Legal Services with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Pennsylvania (HIAS PA), in Philadelphia. From 1998 to 2020, she was the Senior Staff Attorney with HIAS PA. From 1994 to 1997, she was the Legal Director and Policy Coordinator with The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants in London. From 1992 to 1994, she was the Solicitor with the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit in Manchester, England. From 1988 to 1989, she was a Solicitor with Michael Freeman and Co, in London. From 1987 to 1988, she was a trainee Solicitor with the London Borough of Islington, in London. Judge Gansallo is a member of the New York State Bar.

Hon. Kyle A. Dandelet — Hon Kyle A. Dandelet
U.S. Immigration Judge
NY (Federal Plaza) Immigration Court
PHOTO: immigrantarc.org

Kyle A. Dandelet, Immigration Judge, New York – Federal Plaza Immigration Court

Kyle A. Dandelet was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in March 2022. Judge Dandelet earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor in 2010 from Harvard Law School. From 2017 to 2022, he was the Pro Bono Immigration Attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (Cleary Gottlieb) in New York. From 2015 to 2017, he was a Senior Staff Attorney in Sanctuary for Families’ Immigration Intervention Project at the New York City Family Justice Center in the Bronx, New York. From 2010 to 2012, and from 2013 to 2015, he was a Litigation Associate with Cleary Gottlieb. From 2012 to 2013, he clerked for the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Dandelet is a member of the New York State Bar.

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Here are the bios of the full list of 25 new appointees! https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1487036/download

Notably, and in marked contrast to earlier selections, particularly under Trump, all the new judges appear to have prior immigration and/or judicial experience. Significantly, 20 appear to have prior experience representing individuals in Immigration Court and a number have immigration experience with both the private sector and DHS. Some have notable pro bono, human rights, or civil rights credentials. Fittingly for “Women’s History Month” and for the composition of the upcoming generation of new attorneys (55% of law students are now women), 17 of the new judges are women.

Obviously, with more than 600 Immigration Judges nationwide, 25 new judges, no matter how well-qualified, can’t solve all the problems of a failing, unfair, and badly “out of whack” system in the near future. But, every improvement in the delivery of justice on the trial level saves lives, inspires others, reduces unnecessary appeals and remands, and puts pressure on the BIA to pay attention to detail and stop just “regurgitating the discredited Sessions/Barr/DHS party line.” Although one perhaps wouldn’t know it from reading BIA decisions, the “legal times” are changing, even if the BIA often appears tied to the least happy aspects of the past.

I have known and admired the work of Judge Claudia Cubas for years. She appeared before me at the Arlington Immigration Court, helped keep our pro bono program humming along, and was a charismatic and inspirational role model for JLCs, interns, law students, and a new generation of due-process-oriented lawyers in the DMV metro area and beyond.

Judge Ayo Gansallo is another amazing legal scholar-advocate. We worked together with Professor Michele Pistone of Villanova on the VIISTA Villanova program for training more non-attorney representatives to assist asylum seekers. It was there that I was introduced to Understanding Immigration Law & Practice, the amazing textbook that she co-authored with Judith Bernstein-Baker. It jumped out at me as just the “practically oriented” book I was looking for! It has now become a staple of my Immigration Law & Policy class at Georgetown Law. The students love the “practical approach” with lots of real life examples and problems that we can work on in groups during class.

While I don’t personally know Judge Dandelet, he is a “personal hero” of my friend, Round Table colleague, and fellow blogger Judge “Sir Jeffrey” Chase! That really tells me all I need to know about why he will be an intellectual leader and a “game changer” on the bench.

There appear to be many other fine, well-qualified judges on this list that I haven’t personally encountered on my trip through the world of immigration. But, I do look forward to becoming familiar with their work through the extensive feedback I get from members of the NDPA throughout America.

Congrats to all the new judges! Thanks for taking on the challenge. Insist on equal justice for all, respect for everyone (including attorneys) coming before the court, and timely scholarly excellence that focuses on correct results — tune out all the other BS that all too often infects EOIR and interferes with great judging. And, of course, most important: “Due Process Forever!” It’s the “name of the game” — the ONLY game in town!

PWS

03-26-22