Penn State Law clinic, CPA to host travel ban forum with artists and immigration experts

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Law in University Park Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (CIRC), in collaboration with the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture’s Center for the Performing Arts, will host Travel Ban Forum with Artists and Immigration Experts in the Sutliff Auditorium of the Lewis Katz Building on Monday, February 17, 2020, from 5:45 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The forum will highlight the connection between the arts and the law while discussing the Trump Administration’s newly expanded travel ban. As a direct protest to the ban, the Kronos Quartet created a program featuring music from the countries included in the ban. The event will feature these artists as well as immigration experts, including speakers:

• Abed A. Ayoub, National Legal & Policy Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC);
• David Harrington, Kronos Quartet
• Mahsa Khanbabai, AILA New England Chapter Chair;
• Mahsa Vahdat, Vocalist with Kronos Quartet; and
• Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Penn State Law Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar, Clinical Professor of Law, and Director of the CIRC.

A light reception and listening session will immediately follow the forum.

Founded by Wadhia in 2008, the Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic is one of nine clinics at Penn State Law that allow students to learn through experience under the guidance of clinical faculty. Under Wadhia’s supervision, students in the Clinic engage in community outreach and education on topics such as immigration remedies for victims of crimes and changing immigration policy. The Clinic also provides legal support in individual cases of immigrants challenging deportation (removal) or seeking protection through the Department of Homeland Security and in the courts. CIRC has developed several resources on the expanded travel ban and other current immigration topics, which can be found online.

The Center for the Performing Arts provides a context, through artistic connections, to the human experience. Bringing artists and audiences together sparks the discovery of passion, inspiration, and inner truths. The Center is a motivator for creative thinking and the examination of one’s relationship with the world.