REMOVING OBSTACLES TO JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS

A Judicial Education Program Addressing the Legal, Language and Cultural Issues of Immigrants in Court

In August 30, 2002, the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) published a hard copy training manual and judicial education materials for Removing Obstacles to Justice for Immigrants. These materials, listed on the Programs & Publications page, are available directly from NAWJ at no cost (shipping not included). In addition, internet and CD-ROM versions of the program are now available through the Distance Learning section of the NAWJ website.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of Removing Obstacles to Justice for Immigrants is to promote the fair administration of justice by improving the courts’ response to the influx of immigrants in courtrooms. Immigrant women, in particular, encounter both gender and racial barriers when they turn to the justice system for aid in domestic violence, family and criminal law cases. These biases undermine their ability to obtain effective protection orders and legal custody of their children and to cooperate in the criminal prosecution of their abusers. In some cases, battered immigrant women who seek protection orders may be asked about their immigration status and turned over to the INS for deportation despite the fact that the law does not require that justice system officers report the immigration status of litigants. Moreover, deportation of witnesses undermines the ability of authorities to prosecute crimes.

In recent years, federal legislation, including the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, both enacted in 1996, resulted in substantial changes in U.S. immigration law and policy. Categories of crimes that subject non-citizens to deportation or exclusion have been expanded, relief from deportation or exclusions available to non-citizens has been limited, and judicial review of deportation has been virtually eliminated.

Other immigration policy initiatives, both federal and local, have had a major impact on non-citizens. Most judges are understandingly not familiar with the complexities of immigration law. At the same time, judges are facing these challenging issues more frequently as the number of immigrants increases in our society and, consequently, in our courts. This project will assist judges in developing a coherent and informed judicial approach to these vital topics.

TOPICS & RESOURCES
The Internet and CD-ROM programs include outlines of essential points for the following subject areas:

• Immigration 101
• Criminal Consequences of Conviction and Sentencing on Immigration Status and Naturalization Eligibility of Non-Citizens
• The Violence Against Women Act
• Language and Cultural Considerations

Power Point presentations and handouts can be downloaded. A self-test is available for judges to assess knowledge gained both before and after training. An adjudication case study is incorporated into the training session for practical application of the material presented to a typical courtroom proceeding. Additionally, there are selected statutes and background materials available for further in-depth review.

EXPERTS
The program is moderated by the Project Chair, Honorable Vanessa Ruiz, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and features the following presenters: Honorable M. Sue Kurita, El Paso County Court at Law #6; Joanne I. Moore, Director, Washington Office of Public Defense; Leslye Orloff, Senior Staff Attorney & Program Director, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund; Honorable Hiram E. Puig-Lugo, District of Columbia Superior Court; Suzanne Ramos, Victims Advocate for the Reno City Attorneys Office; Manuel Vargas, Director, Immigrant Defense Project, New York State Defenders’ Association; Sujata Warrier, Director, Health Care Bureau of the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence; Carol Leslie Wolchok, Director, American Bar Association Center for Immigration Law and Representation; and Elizabeth M. Young, Co-founder, Inter-Change Consultants.

RESOURCES FOR JUDGES
Very few judges have the time or money to attend full day of conferences. Our solution is to provide an Internet and/or CD-ROM component of Removing Obstacles which is a "virtual" one-day (8 hour) training session that judges can purchase. A participant in this virtual classroom may pause and review program portions as desired, save segments of the program for viewing at a later time, type notes during the presentation, utilize a message board and participate in an on-line conversation with the presenters.

RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS
Educators may offer a complete training program for judges using the Removing Obstacles CD-ROM. The program may be used to supplement or replace live training sessions. A facilitator can opt to purchase the CD-ROM, coordinate a meeting place and facilitators to conduct the adjudication case study while forgoing locating and subsidizing expert presenters to conduct the individual segments. The facilitator can play the CD-ROM video, have facilitators guide case-study break out sessions and take questions and then restart the video to hear the case study panel discussion and answers.