On November 19, the Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL) hosted its annual forum. The theme “Refugee Children: Their Rights, Our Responsibilities,” referenced the influx of Central American children immigrating to the United States in late 2013 and through the summer of 2014.
Symposium panelists included Oscar Chacón, co-founder and executive director of the National Alliance of Latin American, Caribbean Communities (NALACC); Ashley Huebner, managing attorney at the National Immigration Justice Center and Jajah Wu, supervising attorney at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The symposium was moderated by DePaul College of Law's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Allison Tirres.
Panelists covered a range of issues, including the harsh realities of recent arrival immigrant children in the United States. They discussed the inadequate and often unjust responses of the federal government and the work that can and should be done to protect these children.
The panelists also discussed the process that unaccompanied immigrant children go through upon apprehension at the border, the causes and effects of the recent influx, the government's responses to this crisis and the challenges that legal professionals must overcome to ensure protection for this vulnerable population.
Students, alumni, faculty, practitioners and community leaders attended the forum. Contributors to the forum included the Society for Asylum & Immigration Law and the Asylum & Immigration Law Clinic.