This panel addressed key issues at the intersection of civil rights and immigration law. We discussed the broad nature of the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to interrogate, detain and remove non-citizens and how the agency exercises its authority. We also discussed a number of hot topics, including the Executive Orders and how they impacted and continue to impact the civil rights of non-citizens. Other topics included the now-defunct NSEERS program and the prospect of a so-called Muslim registry; Fourth Amendment issues and motions to suppress; immigration detainers; and issues affecting immigrant children, including the right to an education. Finally, the Immigration Section Chief of the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security discussed her office and addressed how immigrants and their advocates can best utilize it as a resource.
MODERATOR: Jeffrey A. Feinbloom, Feinbloom Bertisch LLP, NYC
PANEL:
Kathleen Gasparian, Gasparian Immigration, NOLA;
Hiroko Kusuda, Professor of Law, Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law, NOLA;
Laura Olson, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Immigration Section Chief, Washington, D.C.