Safe Passage Project held an “In-Depth Training On Prosecutorial Discretion” on August 23, 2016. Rex Chen, Safe Passage Project Mentor Attorney and veteran “prosecutorial discretion” (“PD”) presenter, helped train over 40 people about seeking PD in the context of New York City Immigration Court.  Rex co-presented with Jodi Ziesemer, Supervising Attorney at Catholic Charities (Archdiocese of NY).

Rex and Jodi offered an overview of PD, practical tips, and addressed a large number of questions from the audience along with hypothetical cases.  They covered the recent change to the fingerprinting process for someone seeking PD and has never been fingerprinted before, meaning an immigrant who is brand new to the process.  Rex and Jodi also encouraged the audience to build an immigrant’s life details into a coherent story, drawing on common themes that appear in many stories and biographies that we hear and read outside the world of immigration law.

The audience of lawyers, students, and advocates were extremely involved with the presentation and raised a large number of questions, which Rex and Jodi worked to incorporate into the presentation.

Afterward, audience members felt the training was very clear and provided many practical tips.

Rex and Jodi thanked: NY City Council, NY Community Trust, and Robin Hood for funding the ICARE project. The ICARE Coalition, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, and Leslie Wagner. Dr. Alan Shapiro, Dr. Cristina Muniz, and the Terra Firma staff. Michelle Mendez. Catholic Charities staff, including Raluca Oncioiu and Jacqueline Stabnow. Safe Passage Project staff including Lenni Benson, Claire Thomas, Stephanie Gibbs, Marilyn Alvarado, and Xia Gordon. Rebecca Press, Liane Aronchick, and Jacqueline Stabnow (a second time).

Please contact Rex Chen (rchen@safepassageproject.org) if you would like to join an email discussion about prosecutorial discretion!

You can view the full presentation here.