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On December 11, 2024, I hosted a CLE, asking the bar to join the Courtroom Crusade—encouraging lawyers to take on pro bono gigs, get swag for experience, level the playing field, and enjoy that feel-good feeling.
A couple of weeks ago, Jennie Pasquarella, Legal Director of the Seattle Clemency Project, reached out to our firm for assistance. By way of background, Jennie and I met at a conference where she and I spoke together, educating our community about their legal rights.
When she called me, she said there was an urgent situation: “You talked a big game at that conference—ready to back it up? People are being detained by the government; they are not getting notice, they are not getting a hearing, and they are being shipped off to their country of origin, or sometimes other countries.”
For Jennie to ask me for help was a real honor. Jennie is a rock star Legal Director at the Seattle Clemency Project, with a distinguished 15-year career at the ACLU of Southern California, leading impactful immigrant rights litigation and advocacy focused on the intersection of immigration enforcement, criminal justice, and national security policies. She does what I call “God’s work.”
So when she said, “Hey, remember that stuff you talked about—justice this, justice that—well, we need that.” How could I say no? I’d be a hypocrite. So I asked, “What do you need me to do?”
She led the way. The case involves a family man who had lived in our country since he was a child, Alan Phetsadakone (“Alan”). He had been detained by ICE for about a month after a routine check-in—a check-in he had been doing for over 20 years. This time, ICE said he could not go home and that he had to go back to Laos, where he was born but knew literally no one.
Take care of his financial affairs, personal affairs, or family affairs? No. Too bad. You have to go. Talk to a lawyer? Not while free and he could not afford one. You have to go back to Laos. That’s when the chaos started. His wife and three kids were left desperate, without answers. Calling everyone. Asking for help. In steps Jennie. Jennie and her compatriot Gail Brashear worked up the case, convinced me to join, and then we drafted filings with the Court to stop Alan from being sent away (mind you, they wanted to send him away within three weeks).
We worked over Labor Day weekend, filed a habeas petition, a temporary restraining order, and a writ of coram nobis (not to be confused with an Italian dessert). Then the government filed their oppositions, and we filed a reply. Don’t forget that Kristin Michaud from my firm also helped (when does she not help?).
We then went to Court, marshaled Alan’s community, who showed up in large numbers to sit in Court. The Court was filled to the brim. There were so many people there that they opened the jury gathering room and ran audio there so others could listen too. The Court heard our arguments and then took the matter under consideration. He then issued a ruling:
The Court acknowledged that Alan, a longtime resident and refugee, was suddenly detained by immigration authorities after more than two decades of living peacefully in the U.S. with his family. The Court said that despite having followed all the rules for 24 years, he was threatened with deportation without proper notice or explanation. The Court found that there were serious questions about how Alan was treated and the harm he faced, and ordered his immediate release from detention. This decision restored Alan’s freedom and protected his family, ensuring that justice was served while his case continues to be heard. I called everyone I could in the government in the middle of the night to release Alan for fear that the plane might take off with him. Luckily, that did not happen.
The next morning, Alan was released and back with his family again. Jennie and I were more than pleased for them. We were able to get some rest with our own families. I share this story with you so that you are inspired to join the courtroom crusade and help organizations like the Seattle Clemency Project. I am not an immigration lawyer, but a trial lawyer, but when good people get together to do good work (like Jennie a rock star immigration lawyer), they can do great things together. There is still good, if not great, work to be done because there are good people like Jennie, Gail, Kristin, and you out there.
Please donate to the Seattle Clemency Project and help them help people like Alan, and help crusaders like Jennie, Gail, and others there: https://www.seattleclemencyproject.org/donate
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