EJS Staff at NLADA Radical Collaboration for Racial Justice Conference
Motley Fellow Claudia Peña and I have been here in DC all week attending the Radical Collaboration for Racial Justice Conference, sponsored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA).
Attending this gathering underscores the need for, and importance of, the collaborative work that all of us at EJS do, especially as it relates to our efforts to explicitly tackle racial justice issues, which is clearly not something all offices or attorneys have the privilege of doing so head-on!
The conference was attended predominantly by legal aid attorneys, with a great diversity of ages, ethnicities and geography, which made for really rich discussions. There were some panels and presentations (including one which Claudia sat on, and was fabulous!), but the bulk of the convening time was spent in structured dialogue and working groups, which I really enjoyed.
Attorneys Needed to Help Respond to Immigration Raids
Consistent with our Grand Alliance work, Equal Justice Society has partnered with the San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN). In the course of this collaboration, the need for more Rapid Response attorneys has arisen.
Two attorneys, Francisco Ugarte, staff attorney at SFILEN, and Sin Yen Ling, staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus, form part of the San Francisco Rapid Response Network. They have offered to train interested attorneys to become part of the Network and help with providing initial representation and consultation to raid detainees in the event of an ICE Raid.
San Francisco’s Rapid Response Network responds to immigration raids where three or more people are detained at the same time. Once there has been a raid, detainees can be moved to another jurisdiction which cuts off communication with loved ones and undermines the ability for advocates to assist detainees.
