On November 20, 2010, the Immigration Committee held a productive meeting at this year’s NAPABA National Convention in Los Angeles. This memo sets forth an outline of what was discussed and a list of action points for the committee to work on in the coming weeks. I. Appointment of Immigration Committee Liaison — NAPABA has appointed liaisons to work directly with each committee. Jeffrey Hsi is our liaison and will be helping coordinate our ideas and projects with NAPABA National. A. Mandy Hu assisted by keeping notes of the committee meeting. II. Defining the Role of the Committee — One issue that was discussed early in the meeting was defining the role of the immigration committee. A. Mission Statement — It was mentioned that we should consider drafting or revising the mission statement. 1. A mission statement may exist — Jared and Margaret can provide guidance on the matter 2. Mention that NAPABA national does not have a mission statement B. Bylaws or Operational Rules? C. Discussion on Role of the Committee 1. Conference Panels — in the past the major recognized task of the immigration committee was to organize panels for the annual conference. Issues raised: a. Better coordination with other committees in panel suggestions to ensure participation of committee and committee members 2. Greater Role in Providing Advocacy on Immigration Issues — it was suggested that the Immigration Committee should take a greater role and leadership in advocacy on Immigration related issues. 3. Education — The Committee should make efforts to offer education on immigration issues to committee members and NAPABA membership at large III. Expanding the Leadership — Committee discussed the need for greater leadership and expansion of leadership roles within the committee A. Establishment of Subcommittees — there was a discussion about increasing committee member participation through the creation of subcommittees. B. Subcommittee suggestions 1. Speakers Committee 2. Technology Committee 3. CLE Committee 4. Advocacy Committee 5. Corporate/Business Immigration Committee C. Liaisons with other NAPABA Committees — It was suggested that better coordination with other committees could be accomplished by way of liaisons with other NAPABA committees, like Civil Rights, Labor, Public Interest, and the Pro Bono committee. 1. We had a volunteer to act as the Labor Committee Liaison — D. New Committee Chairs — may be needed in the coming year as all current committee chairs are considering winding down roles. IV. Education and Advocacy Projects A. Committees role in educating larger NAPABA membership emphasized 1. Advocacy issues 2. Practice Issues helpful to general membership B. Educating NAPABA Regarding Advocacy Issues — Immigration Reform 1. Making announcements via email blasts regarding issues like a. Comprehensive Immigration Reform b. Dream Act c. Anti-Immigrant Legislation 2. Coordinate with national immigration advocacy groups like the Asian American Justice Center, affiliates, and other advocacy groups — utilize built base as source for advocacy information 3. Work with local affiliates — act as a resource for a. Speakers b. Workshops/Clinics c. i.e. naturalization clinics and educational program organized by Connie Choi at APALC 4. Efforts to reverse negative perception of immigrants in State legislatures C. Educating committee members and general NAPABA membership on relevant/topical immigration practice issues D. Monthly CLE program — Monthly or quarterly telephone based CLE programs 1. Focus on issues affecting private practice, in house lawyers, and also advocacy issues 2. Would bring positive publicity to committee and NAPABA V. Need for a Listserv A. Members felt more comfortable with a listserv type system for handling day to day business rather than current LinkedIn system B. Purpose of Listserv — Multiple purposes? 1. Immigration Committee Business 2. Blast Educational Materials regarding practice and advocacy to committee members and NAPABA 3. Community Bulletin Board to answer practice questions 4. Feedback for proposed regulations (comment period) VI. Membership A. Quarterly Meeting Requirement — consensus was to hold telephonic quarterly meeting on set day for each quarter (like first Tuesday) B. Unsure about Immigration Committee Membership number C. Should we set up a website for the Immigration Committee? D. Integrating local affiliates and letting local affiliates know the committee exists VII. Action Items — steps each member requested to follow up on A. Leadership — Committee members should consider potential taking leadership roles 1. Create or propose subcommittees. Proposed committees include: a. Speakers Committee: consisting of members whose duty it is to act as reference for potential speakers. Would require members to have knowledge about potential speakers for issues or seek out qualified speakers and suggest them to committee members interested in organizing panels. Would consist of more seasoned attorneys. b. CLE Committee — responsible for coordinating and planning potential CLEs for the monthy CLE program c. Advocacy Committee — responsible for keeping abreast of important issues affecting immigration and educating the committee on those issues. Also responsible for putting together policy statements to be issued by the committee or released by NAPABA. d. Corporate Practice Committee e. Technology Committee — responsible for creating and managing listservs, pages, and other issues related to technology 2. Liaisons — volunteer to act as Liaison between committees a. Civil Rights b. Labor and Employment c. Public Interest d. Pro Bono e. Criminal, Family, and others B. Technology — get listservs or alternatives set up C. CLEs — work on getting first CLE program organized for January 2011 — perhaps first program can be regarding immigration legislation advocacy D. Advocacy — 1. Immediately coordinate regarding Dream Act 2. Coordinate for AILA National Day of Action and NAPABA Day on the Hill E. Pick a dates for our quarterly telephonic meetings From these notes, you should see that we accomplished quite a lot during our meeting. I’ve followed up on some of our action points and will be posting something regarding those actions shortly.
