IMMIGRATION LEADERSHIP LUNCHEON - February 14, 2018 - Julie Kirchner, CIS Ombudsman, DHS

IMMIGRATION LEADERSHIP

MONTHLY LUNCHEON SERIES

Presented by

District of Columbia Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and

The Immigration Law Section of the Federal Bar Association

Speaker: Julie Kirchner

Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Date: Wednesday, February 14th, 2018

Time: 11:30am – 1:30 pm

Location: Chinatown Garden Restaurant

618 H. Street, NW

Washington, DC -- Tel: (202) 737-8887

Topic: The Role of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.

Please register online at https://fbaFeb2018immiglunch.eventbrite.com

Space is Limited. Early Registration will close on Monday, February 12th at 5:00pm. There will be a $10 late charge added to all tickets after that.

If you encounter problems registering, please email Prakash Khatri at prakash@khatrilaw.com

Cost: FREE - FBA DC Chapter and/or FBA Immigration Law Section members. The event is free for the first 50 (25 FBA DC Chapter and 25 FBA Immigration Law Section members) who register online. No shows will be billed $20.

$15 - All Other Federal Bar Association members

$15 - Federal Government Employee Lawyer considering FBA membership

$25 - AILA DC Chapter members

$30 - Private Bar -Non-members (must be admitted to practice law or assistant of a Bar Member)

$12 – Law Student (must present current ID)

$12 – Legal Intern at a government office or Non-Profit Organization and non-profit attorneys

$200 -Law Firm Table for 8 plus recognition --enables a law firm to invite 8 attorneys/ paralegals from the same Law Firm to attend the meeting. Non-profit attorneys that are not firm members can be invited to join at the table. The Law firm will be recognized as a table sponsor for the event.

Questions: If you have any questions or if you are interested in becoming involved with the FBA-DC Chapter or the Immigration Law Section, please contact Prakash Khatri at prakash@khatrilaw.com.

About the Federal Bar Association (FBA): The FBA is dedicated to the advancement of the science of jurisprudence and to promoting the welfare, interests, education, and professional development of all attorneys involved in federal law. Its members run the gamut of federal practice: attorneys practicing in small to large legal firms, attorneys in corporations and federal agencies, and members of the judiciary. The FBA is the catalyst for communication between the bar and the bench, as well as the private and public sectors. To Join the FBA, please go to www.fedbar.org and click on “join the FBA”.

Julie Kirchner

Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Julie Kirchner serves as the fifth Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (Ombudsman) at the Department of Homeland Security. In this role, she leads an independent component dedicated to helping individuals and sponsors navigate the legal immigration system and resolve problems that arise while their applications for immigration benefits are processed at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Every year, the Ombudsman’s office receives thousands of requests for help and assigns each case to a dedicated immigration law analyst who works with USCIS to help the requestors resolve problems with their cases, as appropriate. As the cases are investigated, the Ombudsman’s office also looks for trends and underlying problems in the administration of our immigration laws and offers recommendations and solutions in its annual report to Congress.

Before her appointment as the Ombudsman, Ms. Kirchner spent several months as an adviser at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. At CBP, she worked on a variety of issues, including the implementation of tactical infrastructure at the southern border, the development of border security metrics, and the coordination of outreach efforts to various stakeholders.

Between 2005 and 2015, Ms. Kirchner worked at the Federation for American Immigration Reform and for eight years served as the organization’s Executive Director. In this role, she guided the nonprofit’s government relations, policy research, media engagement and grassroots activity. She also managed the operation of the organization, including the multi-million dollar budget, financial reporting, board relations, and human resources.

Having grown up in Iowa, Ms. Kirchner elected to spend a year in her father’s native country of Hungary, taking intensive classes in Hungarian at the Eötvös Loránd University and studying violin at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy. After returning to the United States, she earned her B.A. in political science at Yale University and her law degree, with high distinction, at the University of Iowa College of Law. As a young lawyer, Ms. Kirchner worked as a private litigator, a criminal prosecutor and as counsel at the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she staffed the Judiciary and Civil Law Committees.

Schedule

11:30 – 11:55am

Registration and Lunch

11:55am – Noon

Welcome -- Prakash Khatri, Attorney (Washington, DC)

Noon – 12:05pm

Introduction of the Speaker

12:05pm – 1:00pm

Remarks by Speaker and Question and Answer Session

1:00pm – 1:05pm

Closing Remarks

1:05pm – 1:30pm

Informal meet and greet among participants

The Immigration Leadership monthly luncheons are generally held on the Second Wednesday of every month, except in August. The following are dates for future luncheon meetings. Please mark your calendars: March 14, 2018, April 11, 2018, June 13, 2018, July 11, 2018, August 8, 2018.