Track Assignments
Track 1: Humanitarian + Asylum (Salon V)
Track 2: Family + Removal (Salon IV)
Track 3: Business (Salon VI)
Friday – May 5
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration + Breakfast
Welcome Remarks in Salon III
8:30 – 9:45 a.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Asylum Law: Strategizing a Winning Case
This beginner to intermediate session is for practitioners who are newer to asylum law and want to strategize a winning case from the foundation. Panelists will discuss how to prepare and file a strong application and which types of corroborative evidence to file in support of the claim. They will also share tips on preparing the asylum client to tell their story at the Asylum Office or testify in the Immigration Court.
- Moderator: Dree Collopy, Benach Collopy LLP
- Gloria Chacon, Supervising Attorney, Immigrant Justice Corps
- Jennie Guilfoyle, Legal Director, VECINA
- Bradley Maze, Attorney, Palmer Rey PLLC
2 | Waivers: Strategies for Overcoming Inadmissibilities
This panel will discuss waivers of inadmissibility in the family based and removal immigration context. We will review the substantive criteria for various grounds of inadmissibility. This includes the common grounds such as fraud, crimes and unlawful presence, as well as some less common grounds such as false claims to U.S. citizenship, inadmissibility in the case of refugees and asylees and former relief under 212(c). This panel will review important current developments that might affect those criteria and statutory eligibility. We will provide practice pointers for presenting waiver applications before USCIS, during consular processing, and in US Immigration Courts.
- Moderator: Alicia Triche, Sole Proprietor, Triche Immigration Appeals
- Bridgette Bennett, CEO & Founding Attorney, Bennett Law Center
- Kevin Gregg, Partner, Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A.
- Cerena Ibara-Cech, Associate Attorney, MJB Immigration
3 | Post Covid Trends in I-9 Audits, Worksite Enforcement and Investigations
In this discussion designed for compliance practitioners, we will: Review recent ICE worksite investigations and tactics in worksite enforcement; Discuss common defenses and approaches to defending employers; strategize how to provide prospective advice to clients; and review I-9 reverification post-Covid accommodation: utilizing agents, electronic forms.
- Moderator: Kevin Lashus, Partner, KJPartners, LLP
- Marketa Lindt, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
- Eileen Scofield, Counsel, Alston & Bird
10:00 – 11:15 a.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Trauma-Informed Representation
Advancing the human rights of asylum-seekers requires trauma-informed, cross-cultural awareness from initial intake to final adjudication. Because many humanitarian cases involve trauma survivors, this panel will cover best practices for zealously representing survivors while protecting against re-traumatization during the immigration process.
- Moderator: Hannah Cartwright, Executive Director & Attorney, Mariposa Legal
- Sabrineh Ardalan, Clinical Professor, Harvard Law School
- Hawthorne E. Smith, PhD, Director, Bellevue/NYU Program of Survivors of Torture
2 | 360 Degree Review of Family-Based Immigration Adjustment of Status – Petitions, Interview Prep, and Adjustment of Status
This panel will discuss family-based immigration, focusing specifically on adjustment of status petitions. We will provide an overview of the differences between immediate relative petitions and preference categories, discuss issues that might arise with the validity of the claimed relationship, address jurisdiction issues and bars to adjustment, and provide practice pointers for handling these cases.
- Moderator: Maya Lugasy, Associate Attorney, Robert Brown LLC
- Annelise M. Araujo, Principal, Araujo & Fisher LLC
- Meghann LaFountain, Attorney, LaFountain Immigration Law, LLC
- Mark Shmueli, Attorney, Law Offices of Mark J. Shmueli
3 | H1B Workarounds
Business immigration practitioners have seen unprecedented challenges in the H-1B Specialty Occupation visa category, primarily due to the ever-shrinking chance of lottery selection. Here we will discuss: “day one CPT”; L1B transfer out/back in; other NIV categories: TN, H1B1, E, O, L/prior employment abroad; H 3 and J trainees: process and limitations; MobSquad, Deel; and PERM or other immigrant process
- Moderator: David Ware, Attorney at Law, Ware|Immigration
- Hudaidah Bhimdi, Attorney, Bhimdi Global Immigration PLLC
- Maggie Mills Murphy, Partner, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Luncheon Program {Salon III}
- Featured Session: The Increasing Use of Artificial Intelligence in Immigration Practice
- Greg Siskind, Siskind Susser, PC
- Julie Saltman, CEO & Co-Founder, Standd
- Jared Jaskot, Jaskot Law
- Keynote Remarks
- Jonathan E. Meyer, General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security
1:15 – 2:30 p.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Litigating Gender and DV-Based Asylum Claims
This panel will discuss the evolution in asylum caselaw relating to gender-based persecution. The speakers will provide guidance for litigating gender-based claims in U.S. immigration courts with an emphasis on recent developments relating to the “particular social group” and “political opinion” grounds for asylum. They will also give practical advice for working with survivors of violence and preparing them to testify about gender-based harm and its ongoing effects.
- Moderator: Heather Axford, Director, Central American Legal Assistance
- Deborah Anker, Clinical Professor of Law and Founder of Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Harvard University Law School
- Karen Musalo, Professor & Director, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, UC Hastings College of the Law
2 | 360 Degree Review of Consular Immigrant Visa Process
This panel will provide an oversight into the procedures and nuances of family-based consular processing. The panel will discuss the “nuts and bolts” of the consular process in general. We will explain what documents are required at the U.S. Consulate to achieve a successful result, ending with an approved family-based immigrant visa. The panel will also explore common patterns and issues seen at particular consulates, including those in Ghana, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Pakistan. Other topics to be discussed during this session will involve the process for when a visa is not approved by a U.S. Consulate, including notices of intent to revoke, waivers, denials, and Legalnet options.
- Moderator: Rina Gandhi, Partner, Murray Osorio PLLC
- Becky Austin, Assistant Director, National Visa Center, Department of State
- Desiree Goldfinger, Counsel, Pryor Cashman LLP
- Catherine McGeary, Director, National Visa Center, Department of State
- Allison Reedy, Consular Officer, Department of State
- Jill L. Velt, Attorney/Owner, Velt Immigration Law Firm, PLLC
3 | Office of Foreign Labor Certification Open Forum
The US Department of Labor subunit directly responsible for prevailing wage determinations and temporary and permanent labor certifications will present updates and answer presubmitted and live questions.
- Moderator: Bob White, Attorney, Masuda Funai
- Brandt Carter, Center Director (ANTC) and Acting Deputy Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, U.S. Department of Labor
- Brian Testa, Branch Chief, Division of Policy & Integrity, U.S. Department of Labor
2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Immigration Relief for Survivors of Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Other Serious Crimes
This panel will discuss the latest policy and practice developments affecting VAWA, U and T applications and suggest best practices for responding to these developments and ongoing issues in your representation of immigrant survivors.
- Moderator: Cristina Velez, Legal and Policy Director, ASISTA
- Jean Bruggeman, Executive Director, Freedom Network USA
- Ashwini Jaisingh, Senior Immigration Attorney, University of Maryland SAFE Center for Human Trafficking Survivors
- Daniella Prieshoff, Senior Supervising Attorney, Tahirih Justice Center
2 | USCIS/DOS Hot Topics Discussion
In this panel discussion, FBA ILS welcomes representatives from various U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) divisions and the Department of State (DOS) (currently TBD as invited) to discuss the current state of USCIS/DOS improvements in customer service, updates on backlogs, budgets and case processing. The panel will further discuss pending or upcoming changes in policies, possible expansion of online application processing, and general immigration benefit goals under the Biden administration.
- Moderator: Tiffany Derentz, Senior Counsel: Berry Appleman & Leiden
- Brian McInerney, Visa Office Director, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Department of State
- Connie Nolan, Associate Director, Service Center Operations Directorate, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
- Michael Valverde, Associate Director, Field Operations Directorate, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
3 | Consular Processing and POE Admission Trends and Legal Developments
What are FNs facing at the consulates and international ports when applying for visas or entry to the United States? During this session, we’ll: Examine scheduling and processing expectations, identify how the processing experience has changed post-Covid, discuss how specific adjudications (Ls, Es, and TNs) have evolved at major posts and POE’s, and212d3 waivers: what, why, how? Canadians and all others.
- Moderator: Jan Pederson, Partner, Wright, Constable, & Skeen, LLP
- Jesse Bless, Founder & Owner, Bless Litigation, LLC
- Graham Dudley, Director of the Enforcement Programs Division, Office of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- Sandra Grossman, Partner, Grossman Young & Hammond
4:15 – 5:30 p.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Expedited Asylum Proceedings and Due Process
This panel will discuss due process in the context of expedited asylum proceedings. Topics will include updates in implementation of the “Procedures for Credible Fear Screening and Consideration of Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and CAT Protection Claims by Asylum Officers” (also known as the “Asylum Processing Rule”), in effect as of May 31, 2022, which condenses the processing time for some asylum-seekers in expedited removal. Panelists will also discuss the Dedicated Dockets and the impact of fast-tracking asylum proceedings on the ability of respondents to find legal representation.
- Moderator: Julie McEvoy, Partner, Jones Day
- Eleanor Acer, Senior Director, Refugee Protection, Human Rights First
- Victoria Neilson, Supervising Attorney, National Immigration Project (NIPNLG)
- Kursten A. Phelps, Policy Analyst, Humanitarian Affairs Division, Office of Policy & Strategy, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
2 | Crimmigration
This panel will address discrete issues in the area of Crimmigration, where the fields of immigration law and criminal law intersect. Several topics will be discussed, including arguments that can be raised for respondents charged with crimes of child abuse, and certain drug offenses. Various issues relating to marijuana will be covered including current trends and potential immigration minefields. This panel will also cover some practical pointers and tips for how to fashion a plea bargain in order to avoid adverse immigration consequences for your client.
- Moderator: Ben Winograd, Attorney, Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center, LLC
- Ofelia Calderon, Partner, Calderón Seguin PLC
- Randall Caudle, Immigration Attorney, River Mountain Immigration
3 | Doctor, Doctor: The Treatment of Physicians
We have responded to the domestic shortage of physicians by hiring thousands from abroad, then subjecting them to onerous regulations.
- Moderator: Jennifer Minear, Director, McCandlish Holton, PC
- Elissa Taub, Partner, Siskind Susser PC,
- Barry Walker, Attorney, Walker Immigration Law Firm
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Awards Reception
Saturday – May 6
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration + Breakfast
8:30 – 9:45 a.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | SIJS Updates and Best Practices in Representing Children
This session will address recent updates to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) practice. Panelists will discuss the new SIJS regulations and the new deferred action policy for cases stuck in the backlog. They will share practice pointers for working with children to help them put their best case forward.
- Moderator: Mindi Aguirre, Attorney, Poarch Thompson Law
- Laura Nally, Program Director, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition
- Sarena Bhatia, Senior Staff Attorney, Children’s Immigration Law Academy
- Mari Dorn-Lopez, Deputy Program Director, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
2 | Removal Litigation
Panelists provide an overview of recent and pending cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals, including cases addressing aggravated felony definitions and exhaustion requirements; discuss emerging practices of mediation before the Courts of Appeals, the mechanics of motions to remand from the appellate courts and remanded proceedings before the agency; examine questions of venue and controlling law for appeals; and introduce resources for monitoring any currently enjoined agency regulations. Other substantive topics will include contesting deficient charging documents, and the current status of Matter of Thomas and Thompson and other cases interpreting the recognition of state court criminal proceedings.
- Moderator: Michael Vastine, Clinical Professor, St. Thomas University, College of Law
- Christina Greer, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Appellate Section, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- Anna Hysell, Managing Attorney, Law Offices of Anna M. Hysell
3 | Let’s Talk Outside the Box: L’s, E’s, O’s, TN’s
Is L ever your first choice any more? Are there L workarounds? L or E: pros and cons of each. O’s for business types: how to prove extraordinary? O’s for artsy types: the agent petition, evidence. Is there a lower standard for some O’s? TN’s: Difficult occupations, Mexico, Canada. CIS or border processing?
- Moderator: Mike Nowlan, Member, Clark Hill PLC
- Graham Dudley, Director of the Enforcement Programs Division, Office of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- Robin O’Donoghue, Managing Member, O’Donoghue Law, LLC
- Ian Wagreich, Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
10:00 – 11:15 a.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Differing Responses to Humanitarian Crises
This will be a discussion about the various country-specific programs that have been created or proposed in recent years to address refugee and humanitarian crises. Panelists will discuss TPS, the Afghan Adjustment Act, the United for Ukraine program, and other programs intended as alternate pathways for refugees and others fleeing harm.
- Moderator: Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director, American Immigration Council
- Anwen Hughes, Director of Legal Strategy, Human Rights First
- Sunil Varghese, Policy Director, International Refugee Assistance Project
- Laila Ayub, Co-Director, Project ANAR
2 | Are You Ready to Appear Before EOIR and BIA?
Beginner practitioners and seasoned attorneys alike will learn practical and procedural how to’s and tips for best practice before the immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). The panel will cover fundamentals on filings with the courts and BIA, hot topics such as electronic filings, streamlined processing and pre-hearing conferences, and important BIA decisions impacting immigration court and BIA practice. Government speakers including Chief Counsel with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (“OPLA”) and a BIA judge will discuss tips and suggestions for maximizing your chances of success with the courts and BIA.
- Moderator: Sui Chung, Attorney at Law, Immigration Law & Litigation Group
- Michael Falcone, Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Alexandra Ribe, Partner, Murray Osorio PLLC
- Hon. Andrea Saenz, Judge, EOIR, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Department of Justice
3 | Steady the Wheel: Navigating PERM in 2023
What are the best practices for getting a PERM to sail through without audit or denial? This panel will discuss common and current issues in DOL processing of PERM cases, including: new SOC codes: unexpected issues (longer delays for new ones, inability to complete 9141); ever extending processing times: any solutions?; Employer evolution to virtual: how to handle?; Best practices in recruitment: the ghost of Facebook, newspapers “of general circulation”; Special Handling reselection: tips and strategies; are “audit triggers” the pink unicorns of PERM practice?
- Moderator: Vince Lau, Managing Partner, Clark Lau LLC
- Lori Chesser, Shareholder, Dentons
- Bennett Savitz, Esquire, Savitz Law Offices
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Luncheon Program (Choose One)
- Networking Lunch (Salon III)
- Business Lunch (Salon IV) – Immigration Law Section Meeting
1:00 – 2:15 p.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Prosecutorial Discretion: Updates, Challenges, and Trends
This session will explore scenarios in which you might seek prosecutorial discretion for your client in removal proceedings. Panelists will discuss how to talk with clients about whether dismissal of proceedings or administrative closure might be in their best interest, what other forms of prosecutorial discretion are worth exploring, and how to make prosecutorial discretion requests to ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA).
- Moderator: Laura Flores Bachman, Director of Legal Programs and Operations, ABA Commission on Immigration
- Eileen Blessinger, Attorney, Blessinger Legal PLLC
- Kerry Doyle, Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Michelle Mendez, Director of Legal Resources and Training, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
2 | View from the Bench
In this conversation with judges from the immigration court, district court, and federal court of appeals, panelists will explore contemporary issues impacting effective oral and written advocacy, including advocacy conducted in a virtual format. The panel will address common pitfalls in federal advocacy for immigration practitioners. Panelists will share insights on civility, professionalism, and candor. Finally, the judges will address the road to becoming an immigration judge or Article III federal judge.
- Moderator: Kate Melloy Goettel, Legal Director of Litigation, FBA ILS Chair, American Immigration Counsel
- Hon. Leonie Brinkema, Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Hon. Gustavo Gelpí, Judge, First Circuit Court of Appeals
- Hon. Ana Reyes, Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
3 | Do I Have to Wave Goodbye? J Waivers.
The worst surprise in any case: an old period of J status invoking the two-year home residence requirement. This panel will help you deal with this issue and more: The nature of 212e and how it attaches; Waivers and extension of J status; 212e and the travel myth; No objection and “no objection plus” waivers; Hardship; Persecution; How to satisfy if no waiver possible.
- Moderator: Charlie Wintersteen, Partner, Wintersteen Patel Law Group
- Brian Schmitt, Attorney, Hake & Schmitt
- Andy Wizner, Founder & Managing Attorney, Wizner Law, PLLC
2:30 – 3:45 p.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Asylum at the Border
This session will discuss the U.S. immigration system as it relates to refugees who arrive at the border seeking protection. Panelists will discuss the experience of asylum-seekers in the detention and removal system and provide guidance for attorneys to best advocate for their clients. They will discuss Title 42, the “Remain in Mexico” policy, recent developments on the “Asylum Transit Ban,” and implications of a closed or narrowing border.
- Moderator: Aimee Korolev, Deputy Director, ABA ProBAR
- Amanda Bernardo, Deputy Director, American Bar Association Immigration Justice Project
- Yvette Changuin, Attorney, RAICES
2 | Naturalization and Citizenship Cases in District Court
This panel will discuss the structure of naturalization law and the most common issues that arise in the naturalization context, including military naturalization. The panel will cover the key issue of a finding that the base adjustment was not “in accordance with all applicable provisions” along with sub-topics including issues of good moral character, taxes and voting, lengthy absences from the U.S., and medical waivers. The panel will address Form N-336, requests for rehearing in naturalization and potential litigation strategies.
- Moderator: Elizabeth Stevens, Of Counsel, Poarch Thompson Law
- Chris Dempsey, Attorney, Dempsey Law, PLLC
- Margaret Stock, Attorney & Retired Lieutenant Colonel, US Army, Cascadia Cross Border Law Group LLC
3 | Employer Petitions and Adjustment of Status: Will We Ever Get There?
This panel will explore current trends, wait lists, processing times, tips and tricks in EB PR, such as: EB1A/B/NIW petitions: what trends/times are we seeing at NSC and TSC?; The EB2/3 China and India horseraces: where are they headed?; “Downgrading” and interfiling; Is the EB AOS interview going the way of the dinosaur or not?; Are District Offices getting better or worse at EB AOS?; Are AOS applications being handled FIFO or LIFO?; Is mandamus a good option for “stuck” cases?; and what about the Ombudsman?
- Moderator: Nicole Simon, Attorney/Managing Partner, Landau, Hess, Simon, Choi & Doebley
- Jeff Joseph, Partner, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP
- Dustin O’Quinn, Chair, Immigration Practice, Lane Powell, P.C.
4:00 – 5:15 p.m. | Concurrent Tracks
1 | Ethical Representation in your Humanitarian Case
- Moderator: Rachel Thompson, Owner & Managing Attorney, Poarch Thompson Law
- Cyrus Mehta, Founder, Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners PLLC
- Liz Markuci, Director of Hotline Services, Training and Policy Development, Catholic Charities Community Services
2 | Detention Litigation in Federal Court
This panel will examine the latest developments in detention litigation-including habeas corpus cases addressing prolonged detention, parole, bond, and alternatives to litigation for addressing issues in detention. The focus of this panel will be primarily on developments in the federal courts. The panel will also provide an update on detention conditions-related complaint processes and litigation. The panel will also address Supreme Court developments from last term in the Aleman Gonzalez case with regards to class actions in the detention and removal context.
- Moderator: Lauren Anselowitz, Partner, Harlan York & Associates
- Chris Brundage, Deputy, DHS Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsmen
- Eleni Bakst, Managing Attorney, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition
- Elissa Steglich, Clinical Professor and Co-Director, Immigration Clinic, University of Texas School of Law
3 | Litigation as a Last Resort
Despite our best efforts, the agencies sometimes either take forever to give us a decision or dig in their heels on a denial. Our panelists will tell you what you need to do: Nice at first: inquiries, congressionals, administrative motions and appeals, Ombudsman, letter to AUSA; Which statute: APA, DJA, or mandamus? Federal court folderol: process, service and the boring stuff; Argument: request or not?; EAJA fees.
- Moderator: Justin Burton, Member, Kriezelman Burton & Associates, LLC
- Lauren McClure, Partner, Kriezelman Burton and Associates, LLC
- Jonathan Wasden, Managing Attorney, Wasden Law