This panel of dedicated and experienced experts explores the evolution of U.S. immigration policies, from historical trends to contemporary challenges and future prospects as we consider the next administration and the pursuit of a just and humane immigration system.
Speakers: Prof. Lynette Parker, Charles Wheeler, and Vicente Lovelace.
A light lunch will be served.
Contact : Deborah Moss West dmosswest@scu.edu
Vicente Lovelace
Born and raised in Santa Clara, Vicente Lovelace is a J.D. graduate of the SCU Law Class of 2024. Motivated by his Latin American and Irish heritage, Vicente has more than five years of experience in providing direct legal services to non-citizens. Since early 2020, he has been a DOJ Accredited Representative for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County’s Immigration Legal Services department. Family and friends can attest to Vicente’s work-related phone calls interrupting lectures, study groups, social outings, and even the Bar Exam.
Lynette Parker
Lynette M. Parker is Clinical Faculty (Immigration Practice Area) of the Alexander Community Law Center, Santa Clara University School of Law. She has been teaching and supervising law students handling immigration cases since March 2000. She provides technical support to attorneys on U visa and T Visa cases. She has co-authored “Representing Survivors of Human Trafficking: A Promising Practices Handbook,” 1st edition published in 2010 and 2nd edition in 2014 by Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), and has authored a Georgetown Immigration Law Journal article titled “Increasing Law Students Effectiveness When Representing Traumatized Clients: A Case Study of the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center.” Prof. Parker has been a member of the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking since 2005, and served for 5 years as a commission member of the Santa Clara County Human Trafficking Commission. She spent 3 years and 5 years of her childhood growing up in Puerto Rico and India, respectively.
Charles Wheeler
Charles Wheeler is a senior attorney with Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) in its Training and Technical Assistance section. CLINIC conducts training, provides technical support and legal analysis, and produces legal reference materials for immigration attorneys and other nonprofit agency staff throughout the United States. It also advocates on behalf of low-income immigrants at the local, state and national levels. Prior to joining CLINIC, Mr. Wheeler directed the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles (1985–96) and the Farmworker Program of Colorado Rural Legal Services in Denver (1979–84). He has been specializing in immigration law and aliens’ rights issues for 40 years. He was the 2002 recipient of the Daniel Levy Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Immigration Law, awarded by Matthew Bender LexisNexis. He was a 1989 recipient of the Carol King Award for Achievement in Litigation, awarded by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland School of Law.