In late March, DLU staff attended several disability law conferences in Baltimore at the National Federation of the Blind. Staff were busy attending sessions on topics such as how best to support deaf clients in negotiating settlement agreements, strategic decision-making in disability rights litigation, and advocacy challenges and strategies for prisoners with disabilities, as well as presenting and facilitating panels and sessions.
Attorney Laura Murchie presented at Deaf Law Day, hosted by Deaf Equality, alongside Megan Rusciano (Center for Public Representation) on the main issues affecting Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals in the immigration system, including the most recent Public Charge issue. Ms. Murchie also presented alongside Qudsiya Naqui and Conchita Hernandez Legoretta at the Disability Rights Bar Association Conference on movement lawyering and litigation strategies at the intersection of disability rights and immigration, refugee and asylum law. She also facilitated a discussion group at the Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium with Anne Kelsey (Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights) to discuss with other conference attendees the issues DLU is seeing on the ground at the intersection of disability justice and immigration.
DLU is grateful for the enlightening discussions and the new connections made with other conference attendees. DLU is also grateful for the opportunity to present on the intersectionality between disability justice and the need to focus on protecting those rights as people navigate the complex, harmful immigration system.