Fundamentals on T visas and Trafficking & Your Questions! (Session 5)

Speakers: Rebekah Grafton

Speaker Qualifications:

Rebekah Grafton is a former trial attorney for the Department of Homeland Security in their Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division. She is prepared to put years of experience litigating on behalf of the government to work for you. She is not only skilled in the complicated nuances of immigration law, but in her unique experience she has also become well-versed in the policies that guide the filing of applications. She has prepared and argued written motions and memoranda at both the Immigration Court level as well as at the Board of Immigration Appeals. Additionally, she has worked closely with USCIS on visa issues, including family-based petitions, employment based petitions, juvenile petitions, and visa petitions for victims of crimes. In 2017, Rebekah was named a “Leader in the Law” by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and chaired the Immigration Webinar Series for the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

Speakers: Gigi Gardner

Speaker Qualifications:

Gigi Gardner is the founder and owner of Gardner Gordon. Throughout her legal career, she has helped thousands of immigrants from all walks of life to achieve their American dream. She views her profession as a calling to serve others in need, and to advocate for those facing injustice.

Gigi was born and raised in Clayton, North Carolina. She comes from a long line of subsistence farmers who immigrated to America from England and have called North Carolina home since colonial times. Her father is a retired state highway patrolman who served Johnston County for 25 years. Her mother is a retired beautician who owned and operated Milady Hairstyling in Clayton for more than 40 years. Growing up, she watched the Hispanic community bloom in North Carolina, which drove her desire to become fluent in Spanish.

Gigi decided she wanted to be a lawyer in elementary school, but her passion for immigration was ignited while she was teaching English as a second language in Costa Rica, and Mexico after undergrad. There, she witnessed the effects of globalization firsthand, teaching business English to locals who worked for multinational corporations. Since then, she has made it her life’s work to do everything in her power to build bridges between cultures.

In her free time, Gigi enjoys seeing live music, snowboarding, scuba diving, and exploring the world.

During this time:

• The basic anatomy of a T visa case -what goes into the application?
• The workflow of a T visa case - what order do we do things to be efficient, and why can't this just be a linear process? (professional responsibility and ethics discussion)
• The challenge of quality versus speed in preparing and filing a T visa case (ethics discussion)
• Ethical issues regarding representing T visa clients - reporting to law enforcement and protecting the client at the same time
• Dropbox resources and remembering you are not doing this alone (ethics, professional responsibility discussion)
• Q&A
• Ethics credit for NC CLE will be requested for this 5th session

• This will not be recorded so please join us for the live virtual

• All participants must honor these rules as the discussion topics are sensitive and involve law enforcement issues.

• Third-party recordings or participant recordings are strictly forbidden.

• NC CLE credit will be requested since the organizer is based in North Carolina

• Attorneys licensed outside of NC can attend. A certificate of attendance will be provided upon request for those who need proof of attendance.

• Attorney-supervised paralegals may attend for educational purposes.

• Attorney-supervised means the paralegal must be employed by a licensed attorney and under regular supervision to prevent the unauthorized practice of law.

• Attorneys signing up paralegals take responsibility for their employee’s registration fees and participation in the program and agree to pay full and fair wages for time the paralegal trains in the seminar as part of work hours/on-the-job training.

This is an interdisciplinary seminar, so please be mindful that we will have individuals of various levels of knowledge attending and have law enforcement, therapists, and other anti-trafficking professionals in attendance. It will be an excellent opportunity for all.

Event Venue

Online