Newly inaugurated President Joseph Biden has wasted no time launching a sweeping array of immigration-related executive orders, regulatory actions, and legislative proposals during his first days in office. His welcoming tone on immigration has reinforced the Administration’s view that immigrants are essential to who we are as a nation and critical to our aspirations for the future. This diverse panel of leaders will discuss their hopes and expectations concerning President Biden’s immigration agenda during his first 100 days in office. In addition, panelists will share real-life stories of the impact immigration policies have had on the Asian American community, spanning across the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations. Attendees will walk away with insight on the new direction we are headed, and understand President Biden’s immigration goals and potential challenges.
Rose Cuizon-Villazor is Vice Dean, Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey. She is also Director of the Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Social Justice. Dean Cuison-Villazor teaches and writes in the areas of immigration and citizenship law, property law, critical race theory, Asian Americans and the law, and equal protection law. Dean Cuison-Villazor’s scholarship has appeared in top law journals in the country, including California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Fordham Law Review, Harvard Law Review Forum, Minnesota Law Review, New York University Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Washington University Law Review, and University of California Davis Law Review. Dean Cuison-Villazor obtained her LL.M from Columbia Law School and J.D. from American University.
Jeri Gonzales Abrams is one of the Managing Partners for her family’s mid-size, full-service Immigration law firm, Gonzales, Gonzales & Gonzales Immigration Law Offices. NAPABA selected Jeri’s Firm as the 2018 APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year. Jeri’s father, Jeffrey, began as a solo practitioner nearly 40 years ago. Her older brother, JJ, joined their father’s practice in 2009. Jeri joined the practice in 2012; and since then, the Firm has grown to 15 attorneys, with offices in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. Prior to joining her family’s firm, Jeri began practicing law in 2007 as an associate for a large Pacific Northwest law firm, and she also practiced as an in-house attorney for a Seattle-area healthcare organization. Jeri received her B.A. from Rice University, cum laude, where she attended on a tennis scholarship. She received her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Honor Board, the Tribal Court Criminal Defense Clinic, and was VP of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. Jeri is the current NFALA President-Elect, Past-VP of Programs & Operations, Past-At-Large Board Member, Past-VP of Membership, Past-Co-Chair of & Presenter at the 2018 NFALA Mid-Year, Past-Secretary, Past-Regional Governor, and Founding Sponsor/Member for NFALA. Jeri is a Founding Member, Past-President, and current Board Member of Filipino Lawyers of Washington.
Charina P. Garcia is a partner at Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP and manages the firm’s Northern California – Oakland office. She represents and advises many Fortune 500 and start-up companies, as well as individuals on both employment and family-based immigration matters. Ms. Garcia is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She has served on the Executive Board of the Northern California Chapter of AILA and was the Vice-Chair of the AILA National Liaison Committee for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s California Service Center. In addition, Ms. Garcia has served on the Board of Directors for Filipino Advocates for Justice (formerly Filipinos for Affirmative Action) and has previously served on the Board for the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC).
