2021 Texas Champions for Immigrant Youth Symposium

The purpose of CILA’s Symposium is twofold: to facilitate learning about working with children who entered the United States unaccompanied, and to spotlight and celebrate the amazing work being done by our fellow advocates around the state of Texas.

Across Texas advocates are working with courage, competency, compassion, and creativity to support children who entered the U.S. unaccompanied. The symposium will include presentations from these advocates on their experiences and expertise in working with children and youth in immigration proceedings, sharing legal strategies and best practices for working with a particular client population.

This year the Texas Champions for Immigrant Youth Symposium will feature two special panels. The first panel of the Symposium will include Jason Boyd, of KIND, and Jennifer Nagda, of the Young Center, both well-known experts on immigration policy. They will discuss the changes taking place on the “hill” under the new administration and their immigration policies. The next special panel will be from the legal team that successfully argued Morales Lopez v. Garland in front of the Fifth Circuit. Susan Watson, Abby Anna Batko-Taylor, and Rebecca Sheff from Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) will give us their insights on appealing an asylum case to the Fifth Circuit, including their thought processes, strategies, and how they built the case.

Other topics included will be:

• T visa claims for youth clients
• Representing youth with pending immigration cases in Texas Department of Criminal Justice custody
• A Texas State Court Judge’s perspective on Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status)
• Fostering a team culture of self-care and wellness
• Legal strategies for age redetermination cases
• Working with tender age children

Agenda

This training has been approved by the State Bar of Texas for 8 hours of CLE credit, which includes 0.25 of ethics.