Webinar: Rebuilding Lives: The Legal Community’s Role in Supporting Afghan Refugee-Lawyers in the United States

Presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee

More than a year after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, about 88,500 Afghans have resettled across this country.  Refugees require support on many different levels—evacuation, immigration assistance, and resettlement.  Among the many who have resettled here are lawyers and judges from Afghanistan whose human rights and rule of law work – or whose very existence as a symbol of women’s equality – put their lives at risk.  These professionals face a daunting task rebuilding their lives and livelihoods in a foreign place.  What role does our legal community have in supporting this transition?  Why should lawyers and judges get involved, and what can we do to help?  Through this one-hour presentation, you will learn why this work matters, meet an Afghan refugee-lawyer now employed as a paralegal, and hear about a project started by the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego.  Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of the refugee experience and what they personally can do to effect change.

Presenters

Moderator: Alejandro Del Carmen, Ph.D., Tarleton State University (a member of the Texas A&M University System) 

Alejandro (Alex) del Carmen migrated to the United States as a refugee from war-torn Nicaragua at the age of 12.  He received a Ph.D. in Criminology from the College of Criminology at the Florida State University. He is considered an authority on the topic of race and crime with particular emphasis on racial profiling in law enforcement. Dr. del Carmen has written numerous articles in internationally recognized journals and published several books. His most recent book is titled “Racial Profiling in Policing: Beyond the Basics” with Kendall Hunt. Dr. del Carmen has presented his research findings on racial profiling, throughout the world (Scotland, Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and Italy). He has trained thousands of police officers including all of the Texas Police Chiefs since 2001. In addition, he is responsible for creating the Texas racial profiling statistical template widely used by law enforcement agencies throughout the state. He is often a guest on Fox, CNN, Fox News Radio, Telemundo, Univision and NBC, among other media outlets. He is also an instructor at the FBI National Academy in Quantico where he teaching police accountability.

Dr. del Carmen is an Associate Dean at the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Public Administration at Tarleton State University (a member of the Texas A&M University System) in Fort Worth, Texas.   Dr. del Carmen has been appointed as a Fulbright Specialist by the United  States Department of State. He has served as a Federal Monitor for two of the most significant police reform cases in the United States. Currently, Dr. del Carmen is serving as a Special Master for the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, on the Puerto Rico Police reform case.

Hon. M. Margaret McKeown

Margaret McKeown has served almost twenty-five years as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an affiliated scholar at the Center for the American West at Stanford University, and jurist-in-residence at the University of San Diego School of Law. As a former White House Fellow, she served as special assistant at the White House and as special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior. A Wyoming native, she serves on the board of Teton Science Schools and was a member of the first American expedition to Mt. Shishapangma in Tibet.

Judge McKeown recently published Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas—Public Advocate and Conservation Champion (Potomac Press, 2022).

Judge McKeown graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and holds an honorary doctorate from Georgetown University.  Before her appointment, she was the first woman partner at Perkins Coie in Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Judge McKeown is a member of the US Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability.  She chairs the Ninth Circuit Workplace Environment Committee and is a member of the National Workplace Conduct Working Group.  She is on the Council of the American Law Institute, the Judicial Advisory Board of the American Society of International Law, and the editorial board of Litigation magazine. She served as Chair of the ABA Commission on the 19th Amendment, past President of the Federal Judges Association, and former chair of the US Judicial Conference Codes of Conduct Committee (ethics).

Judge McKeown is on the board of the World Justice Project and is Vice Chair of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative and a current special advisor.  She has lectured throughout the world on international law, intellectual property, human rights, ethics, and constitutional law and has participated in numerous rule of law initiatives with judges and lawyers.

Judge McKeown received the ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement award, the ABA John Marshall Award, the Inns of Court Ninth Circuit Professionalism Award, the Washington Women Lawyers President’s Award, and the Girl Scouts Cool Woman Award, among others.

Masooda Qazi, San Diego County Public Defender’s Office

Masooda Qazi is a temporary paralegal at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office.  She resettled in San Diego in 2022 with her husband and children after a difficult journey from Kabul, Afghanistan.  Before the Taliban takeover, she worked for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.  Previously, she advised the U.N. and E.U. on rule of law projects in Afghanistan that supported the new Anti-Corruption Justice Center and women-centered reforms to the Penal Code.  Masooda graduated first in her law school class at Kabul University, where she met her husband.  Passionate about women’s rights, she began her legal career advising the now-shuttered Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

Masooda and her family had a difficult journey escaping Afghanistan, spending 9 months in prison-turned-refugee camp in the Netherlands before coming to the United States.  She and her husband Hamid then worked to find legal sector employment through the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego; they are mentored by a tight-knit team of judges and lawyers eager to support their professional development.

Mytili Bala, California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One

Mytili Bala is a senior research attorney for the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One in San Diego, where she handles a wide range of civil and criminal appeals.  She joined the court from a human rights nonprofit, where she pursued accountability for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.  A graduate of Yale Law School, Mytili spent the initial part of her legal career as a law firm litigation associate.

In 2022 while serving as President of the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego, Mytili launched the Afghan Outreach Project to help Afghan judges and lawyers find legal sector employment and learn about our courts.  In partnership with the National Association of Women Judges, she set up mentor pods for six Afghan women judges in California.  Through sweat equity and collective volunteer efforts, Mytili has helped 11 Afghan lawyers and judges find jobs and fellowships.  For this work, she will receive the 2023 San Diego County Bar Association Community Service Award.  There is tremendous need, and Mytili enthusiastically welcomes your participation and support.

Registration

Registration for this webinar is now closed

Attendees will receive the zoom streaming link in their confirmation email. Streaming information will also be circulated via email after registration closes the day prior to the webinar date.

• FBA Member: $0
• Nonmember: $0

Accessibility: Closed captioning and dial-in is available for all virtual webcasts.

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If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact meetings@fedbar.org.