This webinar will cover the basic law of motions to suppress and strategies for defending clients in removal proceedings after their constitutional rights have been violated. We’ll cover the framework of Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations in the immigration context and offer immigration court practice tips.
Presenters:
Elliott Ozment, Founder and Managing Attorney – Ozment Law
Elliott Ozment graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 1975 and obtained a Certificate in the Program for Instruction for Lawyers from Harvard Law School in 1990. Has focused his practice in immigration law since 1998. Has been a member of American Immigration Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville Bar Association, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. He has served as the Chair of the Immigration Law Committee of the Nashville Bar Association and is the legal counsel for the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He has provided initial consultations to over 1000 individuals and families and has represented hundreds of clients before the INS and USCIS (successor agency to the INS). He has also tried hundreds of immigration cases before numerous Immigration Courts (Memphis, Oakdale (LA), Atlanta (GA), New Orleans (LA), San Antonio (TX), York (PA),) and the Board of Immigration Appeals in Washington, D.C. He has also represented immigration clients in numerous U.S. District Courts (usually involving law enforcement and ICE violations of constitutional protections) and has represented immigration appellants before the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Fifth Circuit (New Orleans), the Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati) and the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco). He has been a key player in numerous nationally-prominent cases, including Juana Villegas (mom shackled during child birth) and Daniel Renteria, which ultimately led to the shutdown of the notorious 287(g) Program in Metro Nashville. He has served as the Designated Legal Advisor for the entire State of Tennessee to the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Ozment was recognized as the 2012 Lawyer of the Year by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild for his outstanding contributions to protecting immigrants’ rights. Mr. Ozment received the Tennessee Bar Association’s Public Service Award 2012 Harris A. Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year. Most recently, the Tennessee Human Rights Commission named Mr. Ozment as the 2013 recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award. He has formerly served as a Representative in the Tennessee House of Representatives and was a Political Analyst for local and state political affairs for Channel 2 News in Nashville.
Lena Graber, ILRC Special Projects Attorney
Lena has been involved in immigrant rights work for ten years, focusing on enforcement and detention issues. Lena joined ILRC in 2013 as Special Projects Attorney to lead ILRC’s work on DACA services and trainings, as well as contribute to ILRC legal manuals and enforcement advocacy. Prior to joining the ILRC, Lena was a Soros Justice Fellow at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, where she supported local campaigns against ICE detainers, provided training and education on the detention and deportation system, and litigated constitutional rights cases related to ICE enforcement. Previously at the National Immigration Forum, Lena worked with border communities to improve accountability for human rights abuses by Border Patrol, and contributed to national immigration policy advocacy and reform efforts. Lena graduated from Wesleyan University and George Washington University Law School, during which she worked on international human rights litigation in South Africa, co-managed a domestic violence email hotline, and aided local racial justice work with the Advancement Project and ONE DC. Lena is a proficient Spanish speaker, a tap dancer, and once she was an immigrant rights mime.
Nikki Marquez, ILRC Law Fellow
Nikki joined ILRC in October of 2015 through a Ford Foundation Fellowship. She will contribute to manuals, develop practice advisories and community resources, and engage in some of ILRC’s advocacy work. Nikki is a recent graduate from Stanford Law School, where she was a member of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and interned at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. Prior to law school, Nikki worked on anti-human trafficking policy and on issues related to the economic rights of survivors of domestic violence. In her free time Nikki enjoys hiking in Tahoe, playing basketball, scuba diving, and baking.