The Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law will be hosting the 2024 CARES Symposium: Supporting Asylum Seekers and Immigrants: An Intersectionality of Immigration and State Law on Friday March 22, 2024 from 12:00 PM-3:00 PM Eastern.

The symposium will be held on the campus of the law school located at 299 N. Spring Mill Rd., Villanova, PA 19085. It will be held in the Laurence E. Hirsch '71 Classroom (Room 101) located in John F. Scarpa Hall.

For its third annual symposium, the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES) will shed light on important legal issues immigrants face while navigating the immigration system, including legal topics that affect them while their immigration applications are pending or for those who do not have a pathway to legalization. 

The United States’ immigration system is very complicated since the interpretation and application of immigration laws vary significantly by state and city. Other issues facing asylum seekers include lengthy application wait times–which can take years, up to almost a decade–and the millions of cases that are backlogged in our system, which create uncertainty for immigrants and their families. Participants will learn how immigrants are affected by laws in health, family, labor and more.

Agenda

(Subject to change)

12:00 PM-1:15 PM: Panel 1 – Public Benefits for Immigrants and Access to Medical Care

This panel will focus on the complexity of understanding if immigrants are eligible for public benefits in Pennsylvania: medical, SNAP and TANF, each with different requirements and exceptions. Additionally, immigrants may have a pending status or pending application, which will determine eligibility for medical insurance or food stamps. This panel will educate practitioners and advocates on the public benefits eligibility and appeal process for immigrants.

• Daniel Cortes, Director of the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES) & Assistant Professor of Law, Villanova Law
• Maripat Pileggi, Supervising Attorney, Community Legal Services
• Peter Zurflieh, Staff Attorney, Community Justice Project
   

1:30 PM-3:00 PM: Panel 2 – Strategies for Protecting Asylum Seekers and Immigrants at the Local Level

This panel will cover a wide range of topics, from family law to employment and anti-discrimination policies. The purpose of this conversation is to educate practitioners on the efforts at a local and state level on how to support immigrants in navigating everyday life while their cases are being decided. This panel will cover laws in PA and other states to explore what is done locally and how else to support immigrants.

• Tamara Shehadeh-Cope, Hearing Examiner, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
• Stephanie Lubert, Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow, HIAS Pennsylvania
• Jennifer Lee, Associate Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law 

The Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board has approved this program for 2.5 Substantive CLE credits. 

Registration is required for this event. 

This event is co-sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The cost of attendance is covered by a generous gift from Joseph Azrack ’69 VSB. More information.