APABA-PA 2024 Annual Banquet

Dear Friend:

We are pleased to hold our 40th Annual Banquet in person this year on Friday, October 18, 2024, at the Sheraton University City Hotel, 3549 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The cocktail reception will commence at 6:00p.m., and dinner will be served at 7:00p.m.

Our Annual Banquet is the most prominent annual social event for APABA-PA. It draws many attorneys, judges, and law students from the region. We will again present our Attorney of the Year Award and Marutani Fellowship Scholars at the Annual Banquet.

APABA-PA’s William M. Marutani Fellowship established in 2003 to honor Judge Marutani’s legacy as a civil rights advocate, jurist, and pioneer in the law. Each year, first and/or second-year law students who exhibit the same commitment to social justice as Judge Marutani are selected to receive this financial award in support of summer employment with a public interest organization or government agency. A significant portion of the proceeds from the Annual Banquet will go towards funding the Marutani Fellowship.

For more information about the Annual Banquet, scholarship, and our organization, please visit the APABA-PA webpage at http://www.apaba-pa.org.

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

The APABA-PA Annual Banquet Committee

This year, our keynote speaker will be Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, who currently serves as the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In this capacity, Officer Wadhia oversees the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), which plays a crucial role in integrating civil rights protections into all DHS activities. The CRCL addresses vital issues such as racial profiling, discrimination, and civil rights abuses in immigration enforcement, working to ensure that national security measures do not infringe on individual rights and liberties.

Before joining DHS, Officer Wadhia was the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Penn State Law, where she also directed the Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. In these roles, she focused on advocating for immigrant communities, providing legal support, and educating future lawyers on immigration law and policy. Her academic work includes significant contributions to the field of immigration law, particularly on the topic of prosecutorial discretion, which allows immigration authorities to prioritize certain cases over others. Additionally, she has provided expert testimony before Congress on immigration issues, sharing her insights and research findings to inform legislative decisions. Officer Wadhia’s commitment to civil liberties and immigration reform has earned her numerous awards and recognition from various legal and advocacy organizations. Throughout her career, Officer Wadhia has been dedicated to promoting justice and equity, ensuring that civil rights are upheld within the framework of national security.

Your donation to APABA-PA supports important work, including paying for professionally translated and proofed materials so that our limited English proficient community members can access vital information, as well as funding our legal seminars for our diverse communities. Your donation also supports our operating costs and APABA-PA's support of the Judge William M. Marutani Fellowship Fund, which provides a financial award to support a select number of Pennsylvania law students who have summer employment in the government or public interest sector. Please donate here.

Suggested Amounts:

• $10: Committed even when it’s rough
• $25: Dumplings = Instant Happiness
• $50: No camera = pajamas
• $100: Haven’t met a bowl of rice I didn’t like
• Other

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