Event Date
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UC Davis School of Law Immigration & Nationality Law Review Vol. 46 Symposium: Community Resistance: Immigration Law in the Face of Mass Deportation & Repression
Our country has seen an escalation in aggressive immigration policy, repression of student speech, and mass deportations throughout this past year. Since the start of 2026, the tactics used against immigrant communities and their allies have reached unprecedented levels of violence. There is an urgent need for conversations with immigration law experts and practitioners to come together to discuss policy change, community organizing, and resistance to such horrific policy escalations.
The Immigration & Nationality Law Review Volume 46 Symposium will examine not only the changes to immigration law that our country is currently undergoing, but also how the shifts in tactics employed by federal agents impact community organizing and the attorneys supporting them.
The symposium will feature a keynote speaker from Chloe Dillon, a former immigration judge, who was one of the many immigration judges fired by the Trump Administration. Our panelists include immigration attorneys and scholars with a wide range of expertise on multiple aspects of immigration law, including working with student activists, and Crim-Immigration Public Defense work.
Agenda:
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9 a.m.
Breakfast
10 - 10:15 a.m.
Opening Remarks & Introduction to the Keynote Speaker
• Chloe Dillon, Former Immigration Judge, Attorney at Crim-Immigration Unit, San Mateo
10:15 - 10:55 a.m.
Keynote Speaker
10:55 - 11:05 a.m.
Q&A
11:10 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
PANEL 1: History of ICE, Oppression of Palestinian and Student Activism, and Community Resistance Against Trump Admin and ICE
• Panel Description: A panel discussion with attorneys on the history of ICE, the state of Pro-Palestinian student organizing and administrative repression, arrests at the anti-ICE protests, and ways to continue collective activism in the face of pervasive censorship and a climate of fear. We will also discuss the important role lawyers have to play in the movement and how lawyers, legal workers, and law students can plug in to support the movement opposing ICE. Lastly, we will discuss the advocacy some of our panelists have done defending folks facing repression/disciplinary action for Palestinian Advocacy, and how to get involved.
• Moderator: Soni Chaturvedi, UC Davis School of Law BDS Amendment Co-Drafter and Attorney at the UC Davis Labor Center
• Professor Raquel Aldana, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law
• Reem Awad-Rashmawi, Immigration Attorney and Community Historian
• Nancy Hormacea, National Lawyers Guild (San Francisco Chapter)
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:30 - 1:40 p.m.
Opening Remarks and Panelist Introduction
1:45 - 3 p.m.
PANEL 2: Mass Deportations and Aggressive ICE Policies Under Trump 2.0
• Panel Description: A panel discussion with practicing attorneys on the extreme escalation in aggressive immigration policy such as that of people getting arrested at their immigration court hearings, the SCOTUS recent decision enabling the racist policies of ICE and DHS.
• Moderator: Professor Leticia Saucedo, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law and UC Davis Labor Center Co-Director
• Aidín Castillo, UC Immigrant Legal Services Center Executive Director
• Professor Kevin Johnson, Dean Emeritus & Mabie-Apallas Distinguished Professor of Law
• Raha Jorjani, Deputy Public Defender and Immigration Unit Supervisor
• Shaina Aber, Executive Director of Acacia Center for Justice
3 - 4 p.m.
Cocktail Reception