ViceVice v. Virtue

Friday November 13

1. 7:30–9:00 AM Breakfast Buffet

2. 8:30–9:30 AM

   01 · Room A

   Saintliness Required: DOL Hot Topics

   Robin O'Donoghue · Douglas Russo · Magaly Cheng · George Ernst

   • Robin O'Donoghue
     O'Donoghue Law · Cambridge, Massachusetts
   • Douglas Russo
     Rose Immigration Law Firm · Brentwood, Tennessee
   • Magaly Cheng
     Clark Lau · Boston, Massachusetts
   • George Ernst
     Hall Booth Smith · Little Rock, Arkansas

   The Department of Labor is keeping even seasoned immigration practitioners on their toes, with evolving policies, shifting standards, long processing times, and employer compliance scrutiny that can feel like a test of professional patience, creativity, and possibly sainthood.

   In this hot topics session, panelists will unpack the latest DOL developments, spotlight the trouble spots causing headaches in real-world practice, and offer practical strategies for helping employers make it through the process with compliance, credibility, and maybe even a little grace intact.

   The panel will discuss

   • Current trends in prevailing wage determinations, recruitment requirements, audits, and supervised recruitment.
   • Practical approaches for responding to audits, requests for information, and other forms of DOL scrutiny.
   • Emerging DOL enforcement priorities and their potential impact on employment-based immigration practice.
   • Best practices for counseling employers on navigating evolving DOL requirements and processing time realities.

   Add to calendar Share

   02 · Room B

   Vice & Visas: NIV Waivers for Drugs and Morality Issues

   Daniel Parisi · Brian McInerney

   • Daniel Parisi
     DJP Immigration · Madrid, Spain
   • Brian McInerney
     Former DOS Official

   When a client's past misconduct collides with their future travel plans, practitioners must navigate the line between vice and virtue. This panel explores nonimmigrant visa waivers for drug-related and morality-based inadmissibility grounds, including common offenses that trigger waiver requirements, exceptions that may eliminate the need for a waiver, and strategies for preparing persuasive INA § 212(d)(3) requests.

   Panelists will also discuss current waiver processing trends and recent Foreign Affairs Manual developments affecting adjudications.

   The panel will discuss

   • Common drug and morality-based offenses requiring waivers.
   • Exceptions to waiver eligibility requirements.
   • Preparing and submitting a persuasive waiver package.
   • Current processing times and adjudication trends.
   • Recent updates impacting NIV waiver practice.

   Add to calendar Share

3. 9:40–10:40 AM

   03 · Room A Ethics

   When the Promise of Miracles Leads a Case Straight to Hades: Ethical and Strategic Responses to Attorney Misconduct

   Samantha Ratcliffe · Emily Stotts · Jessica Ramos · Laura Ferner

   • Samantha Ratcliffe
     Metropolitan Public Defender · Portland, Oregon
   • Emily Stotts
     Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors · Nashville, Tennessee
   • Jessica Ramos
     The Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio · Cincinnati, Ohio
   • Laura Ferner
     Crouch Harwell Fryar & Ferner · Springdale, Arkansas

   Because sometimes the biggest obstacle in an immigration case isn't the government. It's the lawyer who promised a miracle. When the “attorney of miracles” leaves a client with a case headed for immigration Hades, the next lawyer inherits more than a file. They inherit ethical dilemmas, damaged trust, and the challenge of determining what can still be saved.

   This interactive panel brings together practitioners working with individuals affected by Alexandra Lozano and similar situations to discuss the legal, ethical, and practical challenges that arise when prior counsel's conduct places a client's immigration future at risk. Participants will explore strategies for reviewing inherited cases, addressing questionable filings, evaluating ineffective assistance claims, counseling traumatized clients, and navigating heightened government scrutiny.

   Designed as a collaborative discussion rather than a lecture, this session focuses on sharing resources, developing best practices, and building a network of practitioners committed to protecting vulnerable clients while maintaining public trust in the profession.

   After attending, participants will be able to

   • Analyze ethical obligations when representing clients affected by attorney misconduct, fraud, or ineffective assistance.
   • Identify strategies for investigating inherited cases and correcting problematic filings.
   • Evaluate remedies including motions to reopen, ineffective assistance claims, and other corrective measures.
   • Apply trauma-informed approaches when counseling clients who have lost trust in the legal system.

   Add to calendar Share

   04 · Room B

   Naughty by Natz: The Virtues and Vices of Naturalization

   Elaine Kimbrell · Petula McShiras

   • Elaine Kimbrell
     New Orleans, Louisiana
   • Petula McShiras
     Kolko & Casey · Greenwood Village, Colorado

   From the first N-400 filing to the final oath of allegiance, and everything that can go wrong in between, this panel covers the virtues, vices, and complexities of naturalization practice.

   Panelists discuss pre-filing red flags, preparing clients for interviews, recent developments involving N-648 disability exceptions, significant circuit court decisions, processing delays, canceled oath ceremonies, and the increasingly important issue of denaturalization, with practical strategies for every stage of the naturalization journey.

   The panel will discuss

   • Before You Confess: pre-filing screening, eligibility requirements, good moral character, and potential red flags.
   • Preparing for Judgment Day: interview preparation, civics testing, and recent developments involving N-648 disability exceptions.
   • The Courts Have Spoken: significant circuit court decisions and their implications for naturalization practice.
   • Purgatory at USCIS: overcoming processing delays, stalled applications, and canceled oath ceremonies, including federal litigation.
   • Citizenship's Original Sin: denaturalization proceedings, grounds for revocation, and strategies for protecting naturalized citizens.

   Add to calendar Share

4. 10:50–11:50 AM

   05 · Room A Wellness

   Keeping the Faith: Heavenly Boundaries, Client Communication, and Sustaining the Advocate

   Sara Mailander · Kenneth Mayeaux

   • Sara Mailander
     Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy · Boston, Massachusetts
   • Kenneth Mayeaux
     Rozas & Associates · Baton Rouge, Louisiana

   Day after day, advocates are asked to perform small miracles for clients facing life-changing consequences. Over time, that burden can affect not only personal well-being, but also communication, judgment, and the long-term sustainability of a legal practice.

   In this uplifting well-being session, panelists explore how attorneys can keep answering the call to serve without sacrificing their own health. The discussion focuses on creating healthy boundaries, fostering effective client communication, recognizing signs of burnout, and building a support system that helps advocates thrive rather than simply survive.

   The panel will discuss

   • Managing client expectations and setting healthy boundaries around communication, urgency, availability, and scope of representation.
   • Distinguishing true emergencies from perceived urgency for clients, staff, and ourselves.
   • Knowing when to guide rather than save, while avoiding the trap of carrying clients' burdens alone.
   • Recognizing burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma, and finding renewal through AILA, bar associations, and other well-being resources.

   Add to calendar Share

   06 · Room B

   Saints, Sinners, and SEVIS: From F-1 Studies to Full-Time Employment — What's Going On with F, M and Js?

   Maka Hutson · Kathleen Gasparian

   • Maka Hutson
     Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld · Dallas, Texas
   • Kathleen Gasparian
     Gasparian Spivey Immigration · New Orleans, Louisiana

   As immigration scrutiny intensifies, F-1 students face increasing challenges in maintaining status, navigating employment opportunities, and planning for long-term immigration success. Proposed limits on duration of stay, heightened enforcement, and emerging revenue streams such as NIL deals, sponsorships, and influencer income have created new compliance risks for students, athletes, and creatives.

   This panel explores how to keep clients on the virtuous path while avoiding the pitfalls that can derail academic and professional goals, with practical strategies for advising students, schools, and stakeholders in an evolving enforcement environment.

   The panel will discuss

   • The Virtues of Status Maintenance: SEVIS compliance, enrollment requirements, reporting obligations, and the impact of a potential shift from D/S to fixed admission periods.
   • The Sins of Student Status: unauthorized employment, travel risks, visa revocations, SEVIS terminations, social media scrutiny, and reinstatement challenges.
   • Temptation in the NIL Era: applying F-1 employment rules to NIL activities, sponsorships, internships, and influencer income while distinguishing passive income from unauthorized work.
   • Creating a Culture of Compliance: best practices for DSOs, universities, and athletic departments to manage risk and maintain program integrity.
   • Redemption and the Road Ahead: OPT, H-1B transitions, reinstatement strategies, and options such as NIW and O-1 for high-achieving students and athletes.

   Add to calendar Share
5. 12:00–12:50 PM Lunch & Chapter Meeting

6. 1:00–2:00 PM

   07 · Room A

   Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance: Drafting Effective Petitions for Review with the Circuit Courts

   Duncan Fulton · Alicia Triche

   • Duncan Fulton
     Loyola University New Orleans College of Law · New Orleans, Louisiana
   • Alicia Triche
     Triche Immigration Appeals · Memphis, Tennessee

   Petitions for review (PFRs) remain the primary mechanism for obtaining federal judicial review of adverse asylum decisions. This panel discusses how to identify reviewable errors, frame compelling issues, preserve jurisdiction, challenge adverse credibility determinations, and maximize the likelihood of remand or alternatives in the federal courts of appeals.

   The panel will discuss

   • Whether a claim is reviewable in federal court.
   • Identifying and preserving issues likely to survive jurisdictional challenges.
   • Tips for drafting an effective petition for review.
   • Developing persuasive arguments challenging credibility and corroboration findings.
   • How the Fifth and Sixth Circuits differ in their approach to asylum review.
   • Seeking stays of removal and emergency relief.
   • Drafting compelling appellate briefs that highlight reversible legal error.

   Add to calendar Share

   08 · Room B

   Righteous Indignation: RFEs, NOIDs & NOIRs in Family-Based Cases

   Brandon Riches · Logan Luquette

   • Brandon Riches
     The Riches Law Firm · Ocean Springs, Mississippi
   • Logan Luquette
     Tierra Law Firm · Mandeville, Louisiana

   RFEs, NOIDs, and NOIRs can derail even strong family-based cases. With USCIS's August 2026 policy update restoring officers' discretion to deny cases without first issuing an RFE or NOID, practitioners must be prepared to front-load evidence and respond strategically when government concerns arise.

   This panel covers practical approaches to overcoming evidentiary challenges, fraud allegations, and Affidavit of Support issues while building a record for approval and potential review.

   The panel will discuss

   • The impact of the August 2026 USCIS evidentiary standards memo on family-based practice.
   • Tips and tricks for responding to RFEs, NOIDs, and NOIRs, including boilerplate RFEs and unsupported requests for evidence.
   • Responding to fraud allegations, credibility concerns, and marriage fraud findings.
   • Tackling common I-864 issues, including joint sponsors, income calculations, and domicile.
   • Preserving issues for motions, appeals, and federal court review.

   Add to calendar Share

7. 2:10–3:10 PM

   09 · Room A

   Lawful Good: APA, FOIA, Mandamus, and Making the Government Follow the Rules

   Sarah Wilson · Courtney Moran · Lindsay Vick

   • Sarah Wilson
     Colombo Hurd · Orlando, Florida
   • Courtney Moran
     Murray Osorio · Merrifield, Virginia
   • Lindsay Vick
     Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani · Sacramento, California

   We counsel our clients every day on the importance of complying with complex laws, regulations, procedures, and deadlines. But practitioners also encounter agencies that unreasonably delay decisions, fail to fulfill statutory or regulatory obligations, withhold critical records, or otherwise fail to follow the rules governing their own actions.

   This session examines the legal and practical tools available when traditional advocacy is no longer sufficient. Panelists explore how the Administrative Procedure Act and federal mandamus actions can address unreasonable delays and agency inaction, obtain critical information, challenge unlawful government action, and promote agency accountability, with practical guidance on evaluating claims, developing litigation strategies, and weighing the opportunities and risks of taking a dispute to federal court.

   The panel will discuss

   • Using the APA and mandamus to challenge unreasonable delays, agency inaction, and failures to comply with legal obligations.
   • Evaluating when to move from administrative advocacy to federal litigation, and strategies involving USCIS, DOS, CBP, and EOIR.
   • Navigating jurisdictional, procedural, ethical, and practical considerations, including lessons from successful cases and cautionary outcomes.

   Add to calendar Share

   10 · Room B

   Amazing Grace: From Parole, TPS & DACA to Permanent Residency

   Johnna Main Bailey · Alexandra Friz-Garcia · Melissa Boggs · Amber Seay

   • Johnna Main Bailey
     Siskind Susser · Memphis, Tennessee
   • Alexandra Friz-Garcia
     Fonte Friz-Garcia Immigration · Coral Gables, Florida
   • Melissa Boggs
     BAL Immigration Law · Richardson, Texas
   • Amber Seay
     Baker Donelson · Chattanooga, Tennessee

   As humanitarian immigration programs disappear, practitioners increasingly face questions about how individuals with DACA, TPS, parole, asylum-related protections, and other humanitarian statuses can transition to long-term lawful status through employment-based immigration.

   This panel explores the intersection of humanitarian and employment-based practice, focusing on creative and practical strategies for moving clients from temporary protection to permanent residence.

   The panel will discuss

   • Employment-based options for clients with humanitarian immigration histories.
   • Adjustment-of-status eligibility versus consular processing requirements, including 212(d)(3) waivers and 245(k).
   • Common grounds of inadmissibility and available waivers.
   • Advising employers on sponsoring workers with complex immigration backgrounds.
   • Practical challenges from the expiration or termination of temporary humanitarian protections.
   • Long-term strategic plans for clients seeking permanent residence.

   Add to calendar Share

8. 3:20–4:20 PM

   11 · Room A

   Thou Shalt Not Gatekeep: Making Federal Litigation More Inclusive

   Hiroko Kusuda · Hon. Janis van Meerveld · Sabrina Damast · Samuel Scillitani

   • Hiroko Kusuda
     Loyola University New Orleans College of Law · New Orleans, Louisiana
   • Hon. Janis van Meerveld
     Chief Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana · New Orleans, Louisiana
   • Sabrina Damast
     Law Office of Sabrina Damast · Los Angeles, California
   • Samuel Scillitani
     Assistant Federal Public Defender · New Orleans, Louisiana

   Federal litigation is increasingly an essential tool for achieving meaningful outcomes for immigration clients. Yet many attorneys, particularly solo practitioners, small-firm lawyers, and those from historically underrepresented backgrounds, lack access to the mentorship, training, and professional networks that often serve as gateways to federal court practice.

   This panel demystifies federal litigation, provides practical guidance for getting started, and explores how greater inclusion in the federal bar can expand access to justice for both attorneys and the communities they serve.

   The panel will discuss

   • Federal court basics for immigration practitioners, including APA, mandamus, habeas, and other common federal actions.
   • Breaking down barriers to entry for solo, small-firm, rural, and underrepresented attorneys.
   • Building confidence through mentors, co-counsel, inclusive professional networks, and practical first-case strategies.
   • Expanding access to justice by broadening participation in the federal bar and leveraging AILA and other litigation resources.

   Add to calendar Share

   12 · Room B Professionalism

   Good People, Bad Discretion: The New Morality of USCIS

   Brittany Faith · Eszter Bardi · Helen Parsonage

   • Brittany Faith
     Abbott, Weiss & Faith · Chattanooga, Tennessee
   • Eszter Bardi
     Sonoda Law Firm · Atlanta, Georgia
   • Helen Parsonage
     Elliot Morgan Parsonage · Winston-Salem, North Carolina

   USCIS's May 2026 policy memorandum emphasizing adjustment of status as a discretionary benefit has shifted the focus from merely proving eligibility to proving why a client deserves approval. Practitioners now face increased scrutiny of credibility, character, rehabilitation, and the positive and negative equities that can influence an officer's exercise of discretion.

   This panel examines how Good Moral Character and discretionary adjudications are evolving, with a focus on interview preparation, credibility issues, and building a record that supports a favorable exercise of discretion. Through practical examples and mock interview scenarios, participants will learn how to prepare clients for an increasingly subjective adjudication environment.

   The panel will discuss

   • USCIS's May 2026 discretion memorandum and its impact on Good Moral Character and discretionary adjudications.
   • Framing Good Moral Character beyond the statutory minimum by highlighting credibility, rehabilitation, and positive equities.
   • Identifying and addressing negative equities, adverse facts, and character concerns before they become interview problems.
   • Preparing clients for difficult, subjective, or unexpected interview questions.
   • Mock interview scenarios and “Am I Being Punk’d?” moments to build stronger, more credible case presentations.

   Add to calendar Share

9. 4:30–5:30 PM

   13 · Room A Practice Management

   Run Your Firm Like a Business: Pricing, Growth, and Your Exit

   Amanda Butler Schley · Lily Axelrod · Ruby Powers

   • Amanda Butler Schley
     Business Law Group · New Orleans, Louisiana
   • Lily Axelrod
     Axelrod Immigration Law · Memphis, Tennessee
   • Ruby Powers
     Powers Law Group · Houston, Texas

   Strategies for finding autonomy, flexibility, meaningful client relationships, and financial success, and for the challenges of small practice: undercharging or undervaluing your services, inconsistent fee practices, unclear engagement agreements, scope creep, referral arrangements, staffing decisions, and uncertainty about long-term growth.

   This candid and practical program brings together women law firm owners to discuss the topic lawyers often avoid: money. Participants will learn how to set fees confidently, communicate value, manage changing scopes of representation, handle referral relationships ethically and profitably, and make intentional decisions about firm growth, including what comes next, whether that is a boutique lifestyle practice, a multi-lawyer firm, or selling or transitioning your practice.

   The panel will discuss

   • Developing fee structures that reflect the value of our services.
   • Communicating fees confidently and effectively to prospective clients.
   • Drafting contracts that anticipate changing client needs.
   • Managing changes in scope and additional work without resentment.
   • Making strategic decisions about hiring, growth, and firm culture.
   • Creating a long-term vision for succession, transition, or exit from practice.

   Add to calendar Share

   14 · Room B

   From Vice to Visa: Winning O, P, and EB-1 Cases for Adult Entertainers

   James Hollis · Karin Wolman

   • James Hollis
     Hollis Immigration · Memphis, Tennessee
   • Karin Wolman
     Law Office of Karin Wolman · New York, New York

   O and P visa cases for adult entertainers and other provocative performers require practitioners to prove extraordinary ability or distinction while overcoming assumptions, credibility concerns, and heightened scrutiny.

   This lively panel addresses how to keep these cases focused on the law, build persuasive evidence, prepare clients for government review, and navigate the ethical issues that arise when a client's profession may trigger bias or moral judgment.

   The panel will discuss

   • Proving extraordinary ability, distinction, and sustained acclaim when traditional evidence does not fit the client's work.
   • Addressing credibility concerns, RFEs, NOIDs, fraud referrals, and agency scrutiny before they derail the case.
   • Reconciling social media, promotional content, public personas, and compliance issues with the legal record.
   • Preparing clients for interviews, site visits, and government review while managing ethical concerns and implicit bias.

   Add to calendar Share
10. 5:30–7:00 PM Happy Hour Reception

Saturday November 14

1. 7:30–9:00 AM Breakfast Buffet

2. 8:30–9:30 AM

   15 · Room A

   Virtue in the Courtroom: Avoiding the Sins of Removal Defense

   Ionela Sierra · Maximiliano Gluzman · Assma Ali · Megan Jackler

   • Ionela Sierra
     Sierra Amrosio Law Firm · Smyrna, Tennessee
   • Maximiliano Gluzman
     Belmont University College of Law · Nashville, Tennessee
   • Assma Ali
     Law Offices of Ali & Associates · Ridgeland, Mississippi
   • Megan Jackler
     Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr & Smith · New Orleans, Louisiana

   With increasingly accelerated immigration court proceedings, effective removal defense often depends on mastering the basics: scrutinizing the charging document, challenging government evidence, preserving objections, making a complete record, and strategically filing motions that create opportunities for relief both now and on appeal.

   This practical session walks through the objections, motions, and procedural tools to consider in virtually every courtroom appearance, from master calendar hearings through merits proceedings, including lesser-used motions that may create leverage, preserve appellate issues, or simply make DHS do its homework, and how administrative closure, continuances, and the status docket can preserve relief while collateral applications remain pending.

   The panel will discuss

   • A systematic review of charging documents and government evidence, and common defects in NTAs and supporting records.
   • Raising and preserving evidentiary, procedural, and legal objections.
   • Using motions strategically to develop and protect the record.
   • Underutilized procedural tools available in immigration court.
   • Administrative closure, continuances, and the status docket to preserve collateral relief, including I-601A waivers, U visas, SIJS, and other pending benefits.
   • Demonstrating good cause, likelihood of success, and productive delay when requesting time before the Immigration Judge.

   Add to calendar Share

   16 · Room B

   Healing the System: Ethical and Innovative Advocacy for Health Care Workers

   Elissa Taub · Rosanna Fox

   • Elissa Taub
     Siskind Susser · Memphis, Tennessee
   • Rosanna Fox
     Lepore Taylor Fox · Livingston, New Jersey

   As workforce shortages continue to challenge the health care industry, immigration lawyers play a critical role in helping employers recruit and retain essential talent.

   This panel explores practical and creative immigration strategies for physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals, including temporary visas, permanent residence options, physician waivers, and solutions for underserved communities.

   The panel will discuss

   • Visa options for physicians, nurses, and other health care workers when things are on “pause.”
   • Schedule A, PERM, and immigrant visa strategies given current delays.
   • Conrad 30 and other physician waiver programs, and their current challenges.
   • Addressing licensing, credentialing, and retention challenges.
   • Creative solutions for difficult or nontraditional cases.
   • Ethical considerations in health care immigration practice.

   Add to calendar Share

3. 9:40–10:40 AM

   17 · Room A

   Second Chances: Quickly and Effectively Preparing Motions to Reopen

   Rebecca Chavez · Nathalia Rocha

   • Rebecca Chavez
     National Immigration Project · Texas
   • Nathalia Rocha
     Rocha Immigration Law · Baton Rouge, Louisiana

   Motions to reopen have become an increasingly essential tool for protecting clients facing removal orders, detention, and barriers to relief. This practical panel focuses on the real-world reopening issues practitioners encounter throughout the MidSouth.

   Panelists discuss best practices for gathering evidence quickly, identifying viable legal theories, litigating equitable factors, and overcoming common procedural obstacles.

   The panel will discuss

   • Potential grounds for reopening removal proceedings.
   • Strategies for challenging in absentia removal orders.
   • Developing reopening arguments in SIJ, detention, and notice-related cases.
   • Gathering and presenting persuasive evidence under compressed timelines.
   • Navigating jurisdictional and procedural challenges.
   • When sua sponte reopening should be considered.

   Add to calendar Share

   18 · Room B

   The Compliance Holy Trinity Under the New Enforcement Architecture: Understanding Coordinated Enforcement by FDNS, DOL, and ICE

   Bruce Buchanan · Emily Brown

   • Bruce Buchanan
     Phelps Dunbar · Nashville, Tennessee
   • Emily Brown
     Elevate Justice · Pensacola, Florida

   Today's enforcement environment is defined by unprecedented coordination among ICE, FDNS, and the Department of Labor, a compliance trinity capable of turning a single oversight into a multi-agency investigation. ICE worksite audits, FDNS site visits, and DOL H-1B enforcement initiatives such as Project Firewall are surging simultaneously, while information sharing lets each agency capitalize on the findings of the others.

   Participants will learn how agencies coordinate investigations, where compliance vulnerabilities most commonly arise, and how to build corporate immigration programs grounded in the virtues of diligence, transparency, and accountability while avoiding the vices of complacency, siloed compliance, and willful ignorance.

   The panel will discuss

   • The evolving partnership among ICE, FDNS, and DOL and what it means for employer compliance.
   • ICE worksite audits, raids, and I-9 enforcement trends.
   • FDNS site visits, fraud indicators, and petition verification initiatives.
   • DOL enforcement priorities, including Project Firewall and H-1B wage investigations.
   • How a vice in one area can become a violation in another through interagency data sharing.
   • Common compliance sins: incomplete public access files, wage discrepancies, job duty inconsistencies, and I-9 deficiencies.
   • Virtuous compliance practices that reduce risk before government scrutiny begins.
   • Preparing employers for audits, site visits, subpoenas, and government investigations.
   • Ethical obligations when uncovering historical compliance problems.

   Add to calendar Share

4. 10:50–11:50 AM

   19 · Room A

   The Blue Light Part of the Dumpster Fire: What in the World Is the Status of Asylum These Days?

   Jacqueline Watson · Alicia Triche · Kaitlin Locascio

   • Jacqueline Watson
     Posada & Watson · Austin, Texas
   • Alicia Triche
     Triche Immigration Appeals · Memphis, Tennessee
   • Kaitlin Locascio
     Loyola University New Orleans · New Orleans, Louisiana

   Asylum law remains one of the most rapidly changing areas of immigration practice. This panel provides a practical discussion of where asylum stands today and how practitioners can effectively represent clients amid continuing policy shifts, litigation, and procedural uncertainty.

   The panel will discuss

   • Where Are We Now? The current state of asylum practice.
   • Courts, Policies, and Litigation: what has changed and what remains unsettled.
   • Navigating credible fear, border processing, and access to protection.
   • Practical strategies for screening, counseling, and representing asylum seekers.

   Add to calendar Share

   20 · Room B

   No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Immigrant Visa Processing in a Time of Heightened Scrutiny

   Petula McShiras · Erin Hebert

   • Petula McShiras
     Kolko & Casey · Greenwood Village, Colorado
   • Erin Hebert
     Ware Immigration · Metairie, Louisiana

   This panel focuses on pressing issues affecting immigrant visa applicants, including public charge adjudications, country-specific restrictions, DS-260 pitfalls, provisional waiver revocations, administrative processing delays, prior asylum filings, passport and civil document challenges, and processing for applicants who cannot safely return to their countries of nationality.

   Panelists will discuss emerging trends from consular posts and provide practical strategies for preparing clients, avoiding refusals, and responding when cases stall or go off track.

   The panel will discuss

   • Current trends affecting immigrant visa adjudications at U.S. consulates.
   • Preparing clients for heightened public charge scrutiny and post-interview document requests.
   • Recognizing common triggers for administrative processing and prolonged delays.
   • The consequences of prior asylum filings, asylum denials, and other humanitarian applications during immigrant visa processing.
   • 601A provisional waiver complications, including revocations and post-departure inadmissibility findings.
   • Counseling applicants facing country-specific restrictions, travel barriers, or lack of access to a functioning U.S. consulate.
   • Strategies for clients with passport, civil document, or nationality-related obstacles.
   • Communicating effectively with consular posts and using escalation options when cases stall.

   Add to calendar Share

Speakers

Tap a session number to open that session, or the LinkedIn mark for a speaker's profile.

• Assma Ali 15

  Law Offices of Ali & Associates · Ridgeland, Mississippi

• Lily Axelrod 13

  Axelrod Immigration Law · Memphis, Tennessee

• Johnna Main Bailey 10

  Siskind Susser · Memphis, Tennessee

• Eszter Bardi 12

  Sonoda Law Firm · Atlanta, Georgia

• Melissa Boggs 10

  BAL Immigration Law · Richardson, Texas

• Emily Brown 18

  Elevate Justice · Pensacola, Florida

• Bruce Buchanan 18

  Phelps Dunbar · Nashville, Tennessee

• Rebecca Chavez 17

  National Immigration Project · Texas

• Magaly Cheng 01

  Clark Lau · Boston, Massachusetts

• Sabrina Damast 11

  Law Office of Sabrina Damast · Los Angeles, California

• George Ernst 01

  Hall Booth Smith · Little Rock, Arkansas

• Brittany Faith 12

  Abbott, Weiss & Faith · Chattanooga, Tennessee

• Laura Ferner 03

  Crouch Harwell Fryar & Ferner · Springdale, Arkansas

• Rosanna Fox 16

  Lepore Taylor Fox · Livingston, New Jersey

• Alexandra Friz-Garcia 10

  Fonte Friz-Garcia Immigration · Coral Gables, Florida

• Duncan Fulton 07

  Loyola University New Orleans College of Law · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Kathleen Gasparian 06

  Gasparian Spivey Immigration · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Maximiliano Gluzman 15

  Belmont University College of Law · Nashville, Tennessee

• Erin Hebert 20

  Ware Immigration · Metairie, Louisiana

• James Hollis 14

  Hollis Immigration · Memphis, Tennessee

• Maka Hutson 06

  Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld · Dallas, Texas

• Megan Jackler 15

  Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr & Smith · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Elaine Kimbrell 04

  New Orleans, Louisiana

• Hiroko Kusuda 11

  Loyola University New Orleans College of Law · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Kaitlin Locascio 19

  Loyola University New Orleans · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Logan Luquette 08

  Tierra Law Firm · Mandeville, Louisiana

• Sara Mailander 05

  Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy · Boston, Massachusetts

• Kenneth Mayeaux 05

  Rozas & Associates · Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Brian McInerney 02

  Former DOS Official

• Petula McShiras 04 20

  Kolko & Casey · Greenwood Village, Colorado

• Hon. Janis van Meerveld 11

  Chief Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Courtney Moran 09

  Murray Osorio · Merrifield, Virginia

• Robin O'Donoghue 01

  O'Donoghue Law · Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Daniel Parisi 02

  DJP Immigration · Madrid, Spain

• Helen Parsonage 12

  Elliot Morgan Parsonage · Winston-Salem, North Carolina

• Ruby Powers 13

  Powers Law Group · Houston, Texas

• Jessica Ramos 03

  The Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio · Cincinnati, Ohio

• Samantha Ratcliffe 03

  Metropolitan Public Defender · Portland, Oregon

• Brandon Riches 08

  The Riches Law Firm · Ocean Springs, Mississippi

• Nathalia Rocha 17

  Rocha Immigration Law · Baton Rouge, Louisiana

• Douglas Russo 01

  Rose Immigration Law Firm · Brentwood, Tennessee

• Amanda Butler Schley 13

  Business Law Group · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Samuel Scillitani 11

  Assistant Federal Public Defender · New Orleans, Louisiana

• Amber Seay 10

  Baker Donelson · Chattanooga, Tennessee

• Ionela Sierra 15

  Sierra Amrosio Law Firm · Smyrna, Tennessee

• Emily Stotts 03

  Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors · Nashville, Tennessee

• Elissa Taub 16

  Siskind Susser · Memphis, Tennessee

• Alicia Triche 07 19

  Triche Immigration Appeals · Memphis, Tennessee

• Lindsay Vick 09

  Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani · Sacramento, California

• Jacqueline Watson 19

  Posada & Watson · Austin, Texas

• Sarah Wilson 09

  Colombo Hurd · Orlando, Florida

• Karin Wolman 14

  Law Office of Karin Wolman · New York, New York

Sponsors

Thanks to our Gold Sponsors!

Thanks to our Silver Sponsors!

Downloads

• Program The full schedule, every session and the speaker index, as a PDF. PDF · 1.7 MB
• Calendar All twenty sessions in one calendar file for Apple, Google or Outlook. ICS · 40 KB

Each session above also has its own calendar file.