News

Through its Public Interest Fellowship Program, SABA-DC provides financial assistance in the form of summer fellowships to law students working in the public interest sector for the benefit of the South Asian community and the metropolitan D.C. area.  Applicants must be current law school students in good standing, and must plan to be employed in the public sector during the summer.  Since the Fellowship program’s inception in 2006, SABA-DC has provided almost $40,000 in funding to highly qualified and outstanding law students.

The SABA-DC Winter Newsletter is here!  

Check out our Fall Newsletter, which includes pictures and information from the latter half of this year, including:

 

- Special events with high profile speakers

- The NASABA Convention in San Francisco

- Fellowship information

- Dinner series

 

SABA-DC REFLECTS ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF OAK CREEK SHOOTING

 

On the one year anniversary of the shooting at the Oak Creek, Wisconsin Gurdwara, the South Asian Bar Association, Washington D.C. (SABA-DC) reflects on the events of that tragic day and honors the memory of the victims. On August 5, 2013, six people, Paramjit Kaur, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Prakash Singh, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, and Suveg Singh, were shot and killed in their place of worship in an act of hatred and terror.

 

Following the Oak Creek tragedy, the SABA-DC community came together to support the Oak Creek community and held a fundraiser raising money for the families of the victims. We appreciated the support of the entire SABA-DC community.

 

Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, Sikhs, Muslims, Arabs and South Asians have increasingly been the victims of hate crimes and the crime perpetrated at the Oak Creek Gurdwara brought that violence to the forefront of the country's consciousness.  Reacting to the community's call for change, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began tracking hate crimes committed against Sikhs, Hindus and Arabs and SABA-DC is encouraged by this recent decision. 

 

As we focus our thoughts on the memory of the victims, we hope that today is a day of peace and reflection for the families of the victims, the Oak Creek community and the South Asian community as a whole. 

 

For a PDF version of this statement, click here: Oak Creek Anniversary_Press Release.pdf

SABA-DC PRAISES PASSAGE OF U.S. SENATE IMMIGRATION BILL

The South Asian Bar Association of Washington D.C. (SABA-DC) praises the United States Senate’s passage of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) last week, the first step on the path to reforming our faulty immigration system. The Senate voted 68-32 to pass the bill, which provides a road to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States and contemplates significant changes to the employment and family based immigration systems. However, SABA-DC is concerned about the bill’s proposed limitation of family-based immigration options for U.S. citizens to petition for their siblings and adult married children over the age of 30 and opposes provisions of the bill that may condone and facilitate profiling on the basis of religion or national origin. SABA-DC’s concerns stem from the impact that these measures would have upon the South Asian-American community.

SABA-DC however applauds the U.S. Senate in taking this important first step. In addition to creating a pathway to citizenship for many, the bill also seeks to clear family and employment backlogs, offers greater opportunities, protections and rights for workers, including H-1B workers and their spouses and workers recruited abroad, and provides protection for survivors of domestic violence, crimes, and trafficking. And while the bill does not specifically address the same-sex immigrant couples, based on the recent Supreme Court’s decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will accept family-based visa petitions filed by same sex couples.

The bill has moved on to be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives. We join our umbrella organization, the North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA), in calling upon the House to take up the Senate legislation and schedule a vote on this important and historic bill.

Our Spring Newsletter is now available!  This edition of the newsletter covers exciting events in the first half of the year, a member spotlight, and information about our Public Interest Fellowship.  

Please join SABA-DC in welcoming this year's Summer Public Interest Fellows.  We have a very strong group this year, with summer positions in the U.S. Department of State, local D.C. government, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

The primary purpose of the SABA-DC Summer Fellowship Program is to help fund a student’s internship with a public interest organization for the benefit of the South Asian community and the metropolitan D.C. area. This year's class represents a significant expansion in the size of the program.  We remain committed to supporting promising law students as they develop their public interest careers.

 

Sonia Desai

 

My name is Sonia Desai and I am a third-year law student at The George Washington University Law School.  Prior to law school, I served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana for two years, where I assisted the Ministry of Education in the implementation of a national life skills education pilot program in the government schools.  I graduated from the University of Miami, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with majors in International Studies and Political Science, and minors in English and Ecosystem Science and Policy.  

 

This summer, I will be interning at the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State.  In particular, I will be a Program Intern at the Office of Global Programs, where I will work to promote international legal standards for human rights through assignments that involve research and evaluation of complex democracy and international human rights issues and ensuring adequate oversight of legal assistance instruments.  Through this internship, I hope to learn more about and gain experience with the practical utilization of international legal instruments by the U.S. government and the intersection between human rights law and international assistance.

 

Navneet Jaswal

 

Originally from St. Louis, MO, I attended Saint Louis University where I majored in Political Science, International Studies and Women’s Studies. At SLU, I was the Pre-Law Department’s coordinator for community service and was lucky enough to help facilitate programs such as “ Missouri Youth In Government” and “Project Citizen” with local high school students. I ultimately earned masters degree at SLU in Political Science with a concentration in Law, Culture, and Politics. Prior to beginning law school, I spent two years serving as a Teach For America Corps Member, during which I received my teaching certification and taught 2nd, 4th, and  5th grade for the Saint Louis Public Schools District.

 

Recently, I completed my first year at The George Washington University Law School and will be working for the D.C. Rental Housing Commission this summer where I hope to hone my legal research and writing skills through drafting decisions regarding appeals to the agency.

 

Keerat Panu

 

My name is Keerat Pannu and I am a second year law student at George Mason University School of Law. I grew up in northern Virginia and attended college at Georgetown University. Upon graduating from law school I hope to pursue a career as a civil rights attorney. My interest in civil rights began when I interned for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund during college. Through this experience I was exposed to the power of a legal education. The attorneys I worked with had the ability to change the civil rights landscape, even history, and I was determined to follow in their footsteps. Since then I have pursued my passion for public service, and civil rights in particular, by interning with Chancellor Rhee at D.C. Public Schools, the Alliance for Excellent Education, and the White House.

 

This summer, I will be interning with the Office of General Counsel at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), U.S. Department of Justice. EOIR’s mission is to adjudicate immigration cases by fairly, expeditiously, and uniformly interpreting and administering the Nation’s immigration laws. EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings. These cases involve detained aliens, criminal aliens, and aliens seeking asylum as a form of relief from removal. During my internship with the EOIR, I will assist the Associate General Counsels with their work. The General Counsels work on the development of agency regulations, review and comment on proposed legislation, and respond to Freedom of Information and Privacy Act requests. They also administer EOIR’s Attorney Discipline Program and the Fraud Program, and coordinate EOIR’s involvement in litigation. Through this internship, I hope to gain a better understanding of immigration law and legal policymaking in the field of immigration.

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Sri Srinivasan, President Obama's appointee to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  If confirmed by the full Senate, Srinivasan would be the first South Asian American to sit on a US Court of Appeals.

The Judiciary Committee also approved the nomination of Ray Chen to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  Currently there are 19 Asian American Article III judges.  Two are on the US Court of Appeals – Denny Chin (2d Cir.) and Jacqueline Nguyen (9th Cir.). 

 

Srinivasan and Chen will be put on the Senate Executive Calendar and will be eligible for Senate floor vote for confirmation. Currently, there is only one circuit court nominee in the queue waiting for confirmation.  Srinvasan will be the second on the list, followed by Chen.

May is APA Heritage Month and the Asian American community is asking Senators Reid and McConnell to bring Srinivasan’s nomination to the floor before Memorial Day.  The community has been very successful in getting our Circuit Court nominees confirmed in May.  Last year Ninth Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen was confirmed in May 2012 and we celebrated the confirmation of the first Asian American woman to the US Court of Appeals. 

DC BAR 2013 ENDORSEMENTS

SABA-DC Membership,

The election process for the DC Bar leadership is currently underway. SABA-DC has received requests for endorsements from a number of the candidates and has reviewed the materials provided by these candidates. Based on our review of their qualifications, experience, leadership ability, and receptiveness to the needs of the South Asian legal community, SABA-DC is endorsing the candidates listed below for the DC Bar.

We recommend that, when submitting your vote for the DC Bar elective office, you cast your vote for the candidates listed below. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about our endorsement process or our decision to endorse these particular candidates.

Ballots will be distributed by mail and electronically on April 30, and voting ends on May 24.  For more information, please visit www.dcbar.org

SABA-DC endorses the following candidates running for D.C. Bar elective office:

D.C. Bar President-Elect

Lorelie S. Masters


Treasurer

Morton J. Posner

The Senate's "Gang of Eight" has released its immigration bill.  Read a summary here, and read its full text here.