Working with Immigrants: The Intersection of Basic Immigration, Housing, and Domestic Violence Issues in California

May 14, 2013
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
PLI San Francisco Conference Center & Via Live Webcast
Free!

To Register Visit the PLI Website:
http://www.pli.edu/Content/Seminar/Working_with_Immigrants_The_Intersection/_/N-4kZ1z12oui?fromsearch=false&ID=160057


Why You Should Attend
You should attend this training if you would like to provide pro bono services to immigrant clients in the areas of housing, immigration, or domestic violence or you would like to improve your representation of immigrant clients generally. Many immigrant clients require assistance with a constellation of related yet distinct issues. This day-long program attempts to address these particular areas of overlap. Experienced practitioners in the areas of immigration, family law, and housing will share their expertise by providing insight into cultural issues that arise when working with immigrant clients, how these areas of law overlap to provide special protections and remedies to immigrants and domestic violence survivors, and how immigration status impacts eligibility for federally subsidized housing.

What You Will Learn:
• Cultural competency issues to be aware of when working with immigrant clients generally and specific issues that arise in housing and domestic violence cases.
• What is domestic violence and how does it impact immigrant communities.
• How immigration status affects eligibility for federally subsidized housing.
• Fair Housing laws that protect immigrants and domestic violence survivors.
• Special housing protections for domestic violence survivors in the Violence Against Women Act and other California laws.
• What family law issues are implicated when working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence.
• How to get your client legal immigration status based on domestic violence.

Who Should Attend
Legal aid and private practitioners who work with immigrant clients or who would like to provide pro bono services to immigrant clients in the areas of immigration, housing, or domestic violence.


Program Schedule

9:00
Program Overview and Introductions
Sharon Djemal, Linda Tam

9:15
Client Counseling & Advocacy: The Role of Race, Class and Culture
The goal of this session is to explore the lawyer-client relationship with a focus on the role of race, class, and culture. Through two interrelated exercises, we will look at the nature of discrimination in the "post-Obama" era and how culture operates on the cognitive, affective, and behavior levels in order to increase our own cultural literacy and empathy in order to address and eliminate bias experienced by minority and foreign-born clients (and advocates) in legal counseling and representation.
Tirien Steinbach

10:15
Networking Break

10:30
Orientation to Domestic Violence
This session provides an overview of what is domestic violence, types of abuse, the cycle of violence, why individuals stay in abusive relationships, cultural contexts of domestic violence, and special considerations relating to same-sex domestic violence relationships.
Nancy K.D. Lemon, Lindsay Sweetnam

11:30
Housing and Immigration
This session covers cultural competency and fair housing issues that arise when representing immigrant clients on housing issues in addition to how immigration status affects eligibility for subsidized housing.
Omar P. Calimbas, Karlo Ng, Patricia Salazar

12:30
Lunch

1:45
Domestic Violence and Housing
This session covers how the Violence Against Women Act and fair housing laws protect survivors of domestic violence from evictions and denial of housing with a special emphasis on working with immigrant clients.
Brenda Star Adams, Catherine M. Bishop

2:45
Immigration and Family Law Intersections When Representing Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence
This session addresses common family law issues that arise when immigrants are dealing with domestic violence, such as restraining orders, custody, and divorce matters.
Khanh T. Nguyen, Hongvilay Thongsamouth

3:45
Networking Break

4:00
Getting Legal Status Based on Domestic Violence
This session will cover the most common forms of immigration relief for undocumented survivors of domestic violence to gain legal status: political asylum, U visas, and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) applications.
Susan Bowyer, Lisa Frydman, Cindy C. Liou

5:00
Adjourn