Building an Asylum Claim

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11:00AM- 12:30PM
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MCLE
1.5 CA

A discussion of the basic elements of an asylum claim for advocates who are new to representing clients in the asylum application process. In this webinar, we will review the legal elements of an asylum claim, and practical approaches to crafting arguments for various elements. We will discuss ways to argue past persecution claims, mixed motive cases, imputed political opinion and particular social group claims.

Presenters

Allison Davenport joined the ILRC in 2015 as a staff attorney based in California's Central Valley, where she was born and raised. Prior to joining the ILRC, she was a clinical instructor with the International Human Rights Law Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law. At the clinic she directed the establishment of the Legal Support Program for undocumented students, the documentation of human rights abuses against LGBTI individuals in El Salvador, and the promotion of equal access to clean water in California.  Allison practiced immigration law, first in private practice and then as founder of the immigration legal services program at Centro Legal de la Raza. Allison also formerly worked as a staff attorney with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a JD and an MA in Latin American Studies. Allison speaks Spanish.

Rachel is one of ILRC's staff attorneys based in San Francisco. Rachel focuses on immigrant youth issues, including unaccompanied minors and immigrant youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Rachel provides technical assistance and trainings to immigration and state court attorneys, social workers, and judges. She works on statewide and national policy that affects the rights of immigrant youth and is frequently consulted for her expertise in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Rachel co-authored the ILRC's publication Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Other Immigration Options for Children and Youth.

Prior to joining the ILRC, Rachel represented detained and released unaccompanied minors in removal defense and led a project focusing on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status at Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project in Los Angeles. While at Esperanza, Rachel also performed "Know Your Rights" work in southern California immigration detention centers for minors. Previously, Rachel worked as an associate at Paul Hastings, LLP and volunteered as a Child Advocate for unaccompanied minors.

Rachel earned her law degree from the University of California at Davis, where she was a member of the Immigration Law Clinic and worked on complex deportation defense cases and detention issues. She received her undergraduate degree from Westmont College, where she double-majored in philosophy and political science. Rachel is admitted to the bar in California. She is conversant in Spanish.

Erin Quinn is an attorney based in San Francisco. Her work focuses on building capacity of organizations and practitioners to assist immigrants. She conducts trainings on immigration law throughout the United States and provides legal expertise through the ILRC's Attorney of the Day program. Erin has contributed to numerous ILRC publications as author or editor, including Removal Defense: Defending Immigrants in Immigration Court; Essentials of Asylum and many others. In addition, Erin works on issues related to immigration status and healthcare as well as consumer protection. She has published articles with LexisNexis Emerging Issues and American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

Prior to coming to the ILRC, Erin represented immigrants in all aspects of their immigration matters, with an emphasis on removal defense and complex cases. She was owner and attorney at her own firm for 5 years after defending immigrants as an associate at the Law Office of Robert B. Jobe. Her experience in immigration law and policy includes working as a fellow for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, EU headquarters in Belgium; clerking for the Immigration Court of San Francisco; and teaching courses as a lecturer at California State University, East Bay. Erin is on the Advisory Council for the Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), in which she serves as Consumer Protection Coordinator.

Erin holds a joint degree in law and public policy (JD/MPP) from the University of Michigan, where she was co-editor of Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. She received her undergraduate degree from University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in English and Anthropology. She is a member of the California Bar and proficient in Spanish.