As part of the law school's inaugural Diversity Awareness Week, the Latin American Law Student Association hosted a panel discussion on March 8 focused on immigration issues and the criminal justice system.

Moderated by Professor Anil Kalhan, "Crimmigration Law: A Discussion Concerning the Convergence of Criminal and Immigration Law" featured panelists Professor Yolanda Vazquez of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law; attorney Wayne Sachs, whose practice specializes in deportation defense and immigration-related criminal defense; and Judge Steven A. Morley of the Philadelphia Immigration Court who is adjunct professor at the Earle Mack School of Law.

The panelists explained the finer points of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Padilla v. Kentucky. They explored its effect on counsel’s duty to advise non-citizen criminal defendants of the potential collateral consequence of deportation resulting from a guilty plea, the immigrant populations most affected by removal from the U.S. and potential future results for defendants seeking to vacate those convictions in state courts.