AILA Presents Hiroko Kusuda with the 2016 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award
| CONTACTS: | |
|---|---|
| George Tzamaras 202-507-7649 gtzamaras@aila.org |
Belle Woods 202-507-7675 bwoods@aila.org |
WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award Hiroko Kusuda of the Loyola Law Clinic in New Orleans, LA, with the 2016 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award, recognizing an outstanding professor in the area of immigration law. She will receive the award this week during AILA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
Hiroko Kusuda is Clinic Professor and Director of the Immigration Law Section of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, the Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice. Under her supervision, student practitioners represent clients before the U.S. Department of Justice's Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals, Department of Homeland Security, and federal courts. Professor Kusuda also trains her students to engage in advocacy with federal and state agencies for their clients.
Prior to joining Loyola, Professor Kusuda was a Detention Attorney for Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), where she represented detained immigrants, managed CLINIC's Louisiana Deportation and Detention Representation Project, and provided technical assistance to Catholic diocesan immigration programs created after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf South region.
Professor Kusuda is a frequent guest speaker and moderator at conferences and seminars on various immigration law topics. A longtime AILA member and mentor on removal defense and asylum law, she is also a co-founder of the Louisiana Immigrant Representation Working Group, of which she leads the Special Immigrant Juvenile Sub-Group. She is also a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.