AABA needs volunteers to evaluate candidates for Associate Judge. Only
 a couple hours of your time are required.  Your help is essential
 because these candidates could affect our profession and community-at-large.
  Please help AABA evaluate these candidates.
 
Pick a date(s):
Tuesday, May 13, 2008   
Thursday, May 15, 2008 
Monday, May 19, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
 
Time:  5:15 – 7:00 pm (Interview begins precisely at 5:30pm) 
 
Where:  Illinois State Bar Association
             20 S. Clark St., 9th Flr.
 
Food and drink will be provided.
 
Thanks for your support.
 
Contact Susan Danial
susan_danial123@yahoo.com 

AABA needs volunteers to be investigators and evaluators for the
 upcoming judicial interviews of candidates.  Only a couple hours of your time
 is necessary.  You will be providing invaluable support for the
 organization, the profession, and the community-at-large.  
 
See the schedule below with dates that need to be filled.  Email Susan
 Danial with any time slot that you can fill or if you have any
 questions.

If you've never interviewed before, it's really easy and requires
 minimal instruction.
      
When:  
Monday, December 10, 2007: 5:30 - 7pm
Tuesday, December 11, 2007:  12:15 - 1:15pm
Wednesday, December 12, 2007:  5:30 - 7pm
Thursday, December 13, 2007:  6:00 - 7pm
Monday, December 17, 2007:  12:15 - 1:15pm
Tuesday, December 18, 2007:  5:30 - 7pm
Wednesday, December 19, 2007:  5:30 - 7pm

Where:  Illinois State Bar Association
             20 S. Clark St., 9th Flr.
 
Please help us out!

Susan Danial
susan_danial123@yahoo.com

COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE

The Community Service Committee will be a vital part of AABA this year.  The Committee will select and sponsor projects to build stronger communities, leadership development and civic engagement.  As leaders of the Asian American community, I am asking you to invest your talent and energy and join this committee to make a positive difference in our community and in the lives of others.

Please contact Betty Jang at betty.jang@us.mcd.com to express your commitment in joining the Community Service Committee by September 8. 2006.  Once a committee has been formed, a date will be sent for an in-person meeting downtown to discuss our opportunities.

Thank you,

Betty Jang

Here is the flyer for the event, as well as (below) a short description.  We will specifically need lawyers who are familiar with immigration law to help screen completed applications and answer legal questions, but we also will need volunteers to work on the forms and perform other responsibilities.  Thanks for helping to get the word out.

Fred Tsao

policy director

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

36 S. Wabash, suite 1425

Chicago IL 60603

312 332-7360 x13

312 332-7044 fax

www.icirr.org

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) is holding a large citizenship celebration and workshop on Saturday, July 1, starting at 9AM.  The event will take place at Little Village High School, 3120 S. Kostner (a few blocks off I-55), in the heart of Chicago’s Mexican community.  Governor Blagojevich, US Rep. Gutierrez, other elected officials and many recently naturalized US citizens will be on hand for a short program celebrating US citizenship and launching our nonpartisan electoral work for the fall elections.  The program will be followed by a workshop at which we anticipate 1,000 immigrants will fill out citizenship applications.  This event is part of National Citizenship Day, as similar workshops and events will take place all across the US to capture the energy of this spring’s pro-legalization marches and the surging interest among immigrants in US citizenship, and to demonstrate the potential clout of immigrant voters.

Dear Asian American Bar Association:

Greetings from the Legal Services Center for Immigrants, a special project of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. We are presently in great need of pro bono attorneys to represent immigrant victims of domestic violence in their immigration cases. Even though our pro bono project has over thirty-five trained volunteers, we are still unable to provide a volunteer attorney to every victim who comes to us for help. We hope that the Asian American Bar Association, can help us assist these victims by promoting this volunteer opportunity to your members. In addition to changing lives, our volunteers gain valuable training in immigration law, and have flexibility in choosing when to complete the work.

Because our current immigration system is largely family-based, many immigrants who suffer from domestic violence will stay in abusive relationships because their abusers hold control of their future immigration status. The passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by Congress in 1994 provided immigrant victims of domestic violence the ability to file VAWA self-petitions, allowing them to seek immigration benefits without any participation by their abuser. The Legal Services Center for Immigrants has two attorneys and two paralegals who represent VAWA petitioners and has trained and mentored over 35 private attorneys in the Chicago area to prepare and file VAWA cases.

Ana is an undocumented client whose case currently needs placement with a pro bono volunteer. She married her husband, a U.S. Legal Permanent Resident, in Mexico. A few months after the wedding, they crossed the U.S. border at El Paso, Texas, and have now lived in the United States for eight years and borne several children here. Sadly, their marriage has been filled with physical and emotional violence. In one of the worst incidents, Ana’s husband pulled her off their bed, dragged her down stairs and cut the phone lines so she couldn't’t call the police. Her bruises, witnessed by neighbors, were visible for days afterwards. Ana’s husband submitted an immigration petition on her behalf, but often threatens to cancel her papers and uses this leverage to control her. He threatens to take her children away from her on a daily basis. Although he has been less physically violent recently, she still walks on eggshells trying to keep him tranquil, and plans to continue living with him until she can obtain her green card.  

You can help clients like Ana by volunteering with our project. Training for the VAWA is available online in the form of a web-cast video. The web-cast lasts 2.5 hours and is accompanied by our comprehensive VAWA Pro Bono manual. We will be applying to have this training approved for MCLE credit. Following the online training, volunteers are invited to our office to meet the staff and have any remaining questions answered. We estimate that an advocate’s first VAWA case will take between 10 and 25 hours to complete, and we ask that volunteers send us completed petitions for our final review within 2-3 months of accepting a case.

If you are interested in participating, or have questions, please contact the pro bono coordinator Sara Murray, or one of the attorneys listed below.

Sincerely,

Sara Murray
VAWA Pro Bono Coordinator
Legal Services Center for Immigrants
312-347-8324
smurray@lafchicago.org
                       
Carol Waldman
VAWA Staff Attorney
212-347-8352
cwald@lafchicago.org

Lisa Palumbo
Supervisory Attorney
312-347-8374
lpal@lafchicago.org