Immigrant advocates rejoiced last spring when the Supreme Court made clear in Padilla v. Kentucky that criminal defense lawyers must inform noncitizen clients if pleading guilty to a particular crime could result in their deportation. Since then, the Court’s ruling has provided much-needed relief for many immigrants whose lawyers failed to properly advise them. At the same time, however, the immigrants’ rights community is realizing that the decision has its limits and will not help all noncitizens whose lawyers failed to give such advice in the past.

Read more at Immigration Impact

The majority are in facilities beyond the reach of legal aid groups, resulting in caseloads of 100 detainees per attorney, a rights group reports. An additional 10% have no access to any legal aid.

Even as the Obama administration seeks to create a more humane system of detention for illegal immigrants, most continue to be held in rural jails without ready access to legal representation, a human rights group says in a report to be released today.
In a survey of immigration detention facilities nationwide, the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center found that more than half did not offer detainees information about their rights, and 78% prohibited private phone calls with lawyers.
More than 80% of detainees were in facilities that were isolated and beyond the reach of legal aid organizations, resulting in heavy caseloads of 100 detainees per immigration attorney, the survey found. Ten percent of detainees were held in facilities in which they had no access at all to legal aid groups.

See the rest of the story at the Los Angeles Times.

Greetings! On behalf of the Latino Law Student Association (LLSA) I welcome you to our webpage. The members and the Executive Board of LLSA look forward to the 2010-2011 academic year, and yet another opportunity to serve the Latino community and the community at large in Madison. This year LLSA is eager to expand its community outreach program by utilizing the experience of our network of seasoned professionals, as well as the knowledge of the current membership at Wisconsin Law School. The Community Immigration Law Center, along with Know Your Rights Presentations, are among many of the services which LLSA members not only help develop, but personally volunteer their time and energy to.

Additionally, this year will mark the revival of an effort to promote Hispanic/Latino Cultural Awareness at the law school and the city of Madison. Through a celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a Series of Guest Speakers, and various Social Events throughout the year, it is the hope of LLSA that our organization will leave a mark on the people that support it in a unique and meaningful way.

I cordially invite you all to be a part of LLSA this year, and look forward to sharing with you the infinite opportunities ahead of us!

Sincerely,

James Leonard

2010-2011 LLSA President

Congratulations to the 2010-2011 E-Board of the UW Latino/a Law Student Association:

President: James Leonard

V.P. Academic Affairs: Tina Balistreri

V.P. of Community Affairs: Joleen Rivera

Legal Community Liaison: Jorge Fragoso

Treasurer: Jami Crespo

Secretary: Pamela Ritger

LEO Representative: Jason Foster

Webmaster (Webjefe): Eric Hinojosa

Thanks everyone, for making LLSA great this year !!!

It was a pleasure serving you!

Sincerely, your 2009-2010 E-Board!

Drivers beware: There’s a woman driving a stretch of Interstate 90 between Sparta and Tomah — without a license or any training about Wisconsin’s traffic laws.

Her name is Victoria. She’s a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico who works on a Tomah dairy farm with other undocumented immigrants whom  she says “all understand our boss through signals” because of language barriers.

Victoria, who arrived in Wisconsin 13 months ago, hasn’t taken any drivers’ training in the United States because Wisconsin law prohibits her from obtaining a license. She says she hasn’t had any run-ins with police, but requested that her last name be withheld out of fear she might be pursued as an illegal immigrant.

She is among a growing number of illegal immigrants who are finding work on Wisconsin dairy farms, located in rural areas where the only way to get to work is by car.

See more at WisconsinWatch.org

Eva Longoria Parker was named the 2009 Celebrity Philanthropist of the Year by The Hollywood Reporter. Longoria Parker currently serves as a national spokesperson for  Padres Contra El Cáncer (Parents Against Cancer), a nonprofit committed to improving the lives of Latino children with cancer and their families.

Read more about Padres Contra El Cancer here, and read more about Eva Longoria Parker´s charitable work here.

After trying to carefully balance their interests in health-care reform and immigration, the nation’s Hispanic lawmakers and largest advocacy groups are scrambling to develop a strategy to counter what they see as efforts to shortchange immigrants in health bills on Capitol Hill. Read more about it here.

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period, and enacted into law on August 17, 1988.

Read more at: http://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/

Take the Trivia Challenge: http://www.biography.com/hispanic-heritage/game.jsp

LLSA’s VP of Academic Affairs and former Teach for America teacher, Aaron Seligman, will be hosting a “how to study” workshop for interested 1L students next Friday, 9/18 at 2 PM. The event will be hosted at the College Library in room 2258 – you can either meet Aaron at the Bascom Hill doors to the law school at 1:45PM to walk over or meet him at the library at 2PM. The event is open to all 1Ls. Please RSVP to aase...@wisc.edu if you are interested in attending. Aaron also asks that you print and complete this learning style inventory before the event.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who rose from the housing projects of the Bronx to the top of the legal profession, made history Thursday when the Senate confirmed her to become the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. UW-LLSA congratulates Judge Sotomayor on her amazing achievements in the legal profession! Read the story in English and Spanish.