Immigration policy symposium will be held April 3 at University of Richmond School of Law
March 31, 2008
The Richmond Law Review and the International Law Society will host the 16th annual Allen Chair Symposium April 3 at the University of Richmond School of Law. This year's topic is "Immigration in the 21st Century: Perspectives on Law and Policy."
The symposium will be held at 6 p.m. in the law school's Moot Courtroom. The event is free and open to the public.
Linda Chavez will give the keynote address. Named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress, Chavez is chair of the Center for Equal Opportunity. She is a nationally syndicated columnist and political analyst for Fox News. She held positions in the administrations of presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and has served as U.S. Expert to the United Nations Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
A panel discussion will include national and local experts, including Professor Leticia Saucedo of the UNLV School of Law, Michael Hethmon of the Immigration Reform Law Institute, Tim Freilich of the Legal Aid Justice Center, Robert Redmond Jr. of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Andrea Rahal of McCandlish Holton.
Justin Curtis, Allen Chair Editor of Richmond Law Review said, "Immigration may be the paramount issue of our time. How we deal with it will have implications for so many issues of concern to America: the economy, national security, federalism and so on. We are excited to have assembled this group of immigration scholars, experts and practitioners who can engage in the complex immigration debate from such diverse perspectives."
Christopher Nugent, senior counsel at Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C., will moderate. Nugent practices immigration law and has been director of the American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration Policy, Practice and Pro Bono.
Saucedo has written extensively about rights of "brown collar" workers-recently arrived immigrants employed in low-wage industries. She is author of "A New 'U': Organizing Victims and Protecting Immigrant Workers" in Richmond Law Review. She will discuss those topics as well as general rights of immigrant workers.
Andrea Rahal is an immigration attorney who focuses on businesses' needs for skilled and professional immigrants. She will discuss some of the problems and limitations with the current system for employers who want to hire foreign professionals.
Redmond is a partner at Williams Mullen and is head of the Legislative Policy Committee of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He will discuss issues of concern to Hispanic businesses in Virginia.
Hethmon has been involved in two high profile immigration cases. The governments of Hazleton, Pa., and Valley Park, Mo., passed some of the most sweeping laws in the country to restrict illegal immigrants. Hethmon represented both towns in ongoing legal challenges to the laws' constitutionality. He will discuss the cases and the ability of local governments to deal with illegal immigrants.
Freilich has represented interests of immigrants as director of the Immigrant Advocacy Center at the Legal Aid Justice Center. He will discuss efforts at the state and local levels in Virginia to restrict illegal immigrants.
The symposium is made possible by a grant from the George E. Allen family. In addition, the family endowed a professorship at the law school—the George E. Allen Chair in Law—which honors the late Allen, the first recipient of the Award for Courageous Advocacy from the American College of Trial Lawyers. It was presented for his representation of an African-American law student from Harvard who, while serving as a summer intern with a firm in Virginia, was charged with felonious assault with intent to kill a police officer at a local courthouse, where he had gone to file legal documents.
Serving without fee and at the request of Harvard Law School Dean Erwin Griswold and the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights under Law, Allen successfully represented the student.