ASYLUM ADVOCACY
CONFERENCE
Nov. 2, 2019
Real Life Asylum Stories
Ventura College of Law campus:
4475 Market Street,
Ventura, CA 93003
ASYLUM ADVOCACY CONFERENCE
On Saturday, November 2, 2019, over 100 high school, college, and law students gathered with retirees, lawyers, architects, clergy, and other community leaders and advocates to learn more about current issues affecting asylum-seekers and migrants and how people on the Central Coast could be involved. Trainings and discussions centered on experiences of asylum-seekers and the advocates who seek justice and to reduce suffering. It was a day of joy, sorrow, and inspiration and all those who participated demonstrated that the Central Coast is committed to working for a better world.
Some of the press covering the event
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Foothill Dragon Press - The student press out of Foothill Technology High School, spotlighting our own Michelle Carballo
SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE PANEL
- Moderator: Vanessa Frank
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Panelist: Bruce Einhorn
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Panelist: Judy London
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Panelist: Mariana Marroquin
OUR DAY
Powerhouse speakers are at the center of this landmark event, organized by the Law Office of Vanessa Frank and co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, the Ventura County Bar Association, and the Immigrant Legal Defense Center. Attorneys and other interested community members from high school to retirement age will find meaningful opportunities to make a difference.
Event Day Schedule
ASYLUM ADVOCACY CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
Parallel “Nuts and Bolts” morning sessions will empower both attorneys and community activists to assist asylum seekers here on the Central Coast and beyond. Non-attorneys from high school to retirement age will learn about meaningful volunteer opportunities suited to many interests, skills, and abilities. Meanwhile attorneys earn 1.5 hours of CLE credit for Legal Ethics in their session, which focuses on practical support for pro bono asylum work.
Lunch is provided, and local organizations will be tabling at lunchtime to showcase the broader movement for migrant justice in Ventura County.
After lunch, a keynote panel open to all attendees will share “Real Life Asylum Stories” and provide attorneys with 1.5 hours of CLE credit for Elimination of Bias. This panel features a retired Immigration Judge who wrote the U.S. asylum law, one of the foremost immigration litigators in Southern California, and a Guatemalan asylee who enriches her new homeland as an artist and community leader.
The keynote panel will be followed by a screening of the recent biopic “Saint Judy” and Q&A afterward with the subject of that film, noted LA asylum attorney Judith Wood. The film tells the story of one of her earliest Ninth Circuit cases, on behalf of a young Afghan woman persecuted by the Taliban because she started a school for girls.
REGISTRATION FEES
- VCBA Attorneys $65.00 (includes lunch and 3 hours CLE credit)
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All other attorneys: $75.00 (includes lunch and 3 hours CLE credit)
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General Public: $25.00 (includes lunch)
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Students with ID: $5 (includes lunch)
KEYNOTE PANEL:
REAL LIFE ASYLUM STORIES
NUTS & BOLTS:
PRO BONO ASYLUM WORK
NUTS & BOLTS:
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
FILM SCREENING WITH Q&A
