The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and University of Detroit Mercy Law School Immigration Law Clinic will present a free webinar on September 29 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. with an overview of Canadian Immigration and changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement. The webinar is designed for U.S. immigration law practitioners.

Four Canadian immigration and asylum attorneys will discuss how to identify when a client with little chance of success in the U.S. may have a better chance of gaining status in Canada. Topics covered will include:

  • Overview of possible immigration options available, an update on the US-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement, border restrictions, and changes to asylum eligibility for individuals who commenced an asylum claim in the U.S.

  • Obstacles to Canadian immigration for clients with past criminality.

  • Discussion of grounds of asylum more readily granted in Canada compared to the U.S. (such as PSGs relating to family, gender-based harm, or forced gang recruitment).

Register Now: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/9112833044738556429

Panelists

Heather Neufeld- Heather Neufeld is a U.S. and Canadian immigration and refugee lawyer located in Ottawa, Canada. She holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa and a Masters in Law from the University of California, Berkeley. Heather has represented asylum-seekers in both the U.S. and Canada and has a particular interest in assisting Central Americans fleeing gang-based and gender-based persecution. Heather is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, a member of the executive of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and a member of the counsel team in Canadian Council for Refugees v. Canada, the constitutional challenge to the U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement.

Aisling Bondy – Aisling Bondy has practiced almost exclusively in the field of immigration and refugee law since her call to the bar. She received her LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, and completed her last semester of law school at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Prior to attending law school she obtained a B.A. from McGill University in Political Science and International Development, and completed a semester at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico. Aisling practices in all areas of immigration law, and regularly represents clients before visa offices around the world and before the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Federal Court. She has taught Immigration and Refugee Law Procedures at Humber College and often delivers presentations concerning immigration and refugee law to the public and at professional development events, such as Humber College, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers. Aisling is a member of the Refugee Lawyers’ Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association. Aisling is fluent in English, French and Spanish, and can speak functional Portuguese.

Erin Simpson – Erin Simpson is a lawyer in private practice in Toronto. She attended the University of Toronto law school, where she graduated with honours and earned the class prize in Evidence. She went on to clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice Fish and Justice Karakatsanis. Erin is called to the Bar of Ontario, and a member in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Erin sits on the National Executive of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL), and is Co-Chair of CARL’s Litigation Committee. She currently acts as counsel to Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Canadian Council of Churches in a legal challenge to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). Prior to attending law school, Erin worked as the advocacy manager for the Nobel Women’s Initiative, focused on women’s rights in areas of violent conflict, and was also a Policy Officer for the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.

Andrew Brouwer – Andrew Brouwer is Legal Aid Ontario’s Senior Counsel in Refugee Law, and works out of the Refugee Law Office in Toronto. In this capacity he leads LAO’s law reform and test case strategy to improve access to justice in the area of refugee and immigration law. Mr. Brouwer is recognized by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Certified Specialist in Refugee and Immigration Law. He appears before all levels of court and tribunal, including all divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board, the Federal Court, Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Brouwer also represents clients before the United Nations Committee Against Torture and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and is frequently called upon to provide evidence before Parliamentary committees studying refugee and immigration legislation. Mr. Brouwer is lead counsel for the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International and the Canadian Council of Churches in their constitutional challenge to the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement. In addition, Mr. Brouwer serves as a member of the executive committee of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, and has been involved with the sanctuary movement for over 25 years.

Moderators

Susan E Reed – Susan E. Reed is a Managing Attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. Susan is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and Marquette University. Susan has practiced immigration and immigrant rights law since 2003. Susan has also served as a staff attorney at Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan and as a regional attorney for Justice for Our Neighbors, the immigration legal services program of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Her particular interests include the intersection of family and immigration law, the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children, immigrant eligibility for public benefits and programs, and civil rights. In 2013, Susan was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to the Foreign Language Board of Review as the LEP Populations Advocate and served two terms. She also served as a committee member of the Court’s Limited English Proficiency Implementation Advisory Committee. Susan is passionate about immigrant access to driver’s licenses and identification and is the Michigan Department of State Liaison for the Michigan Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. Susan is a proud member of the first class of W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellows.

Ruby Robinson – Ruby is a Managing Attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. He focuses primarily on humanitarian relief for victims of domestic violence/crime, as well as naturalization matters. He is also very familiar with the immigration consequences for criminal behavior, specifically Michigan offenses. Ruby graduated from Wayne State University Law School and the University of Michigan. Before joining MIRC, he worked for Lakeshore Legal Aid. During law school, Ruby was a student attorney with the school’s Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic. Prior to law school, Ruby served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in Brooklyn, NY.

Registration will close when capacity is reached or on September 28th, whichever comes first.

Michigan Immigrant Rights Center | michiganimmigrant.org