By Patrick Tandy
With the plight of immigrants front and center on the national stage, the MSBA Young Lawyers Section (YLS) named the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition the beneficiary of its 28th Annual Charity Event, held April 12, 2019, at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen at the Baltimore Museum of Art. More than 150 people including MSBA President Judge Keith R. Truffer attended the event, which featured a silent auction, live music, and more.
The CAIR Coalition, which recently opened a Baltimore office, provides direct legal representation of immigrant adults and children in government detention facilities, know your rights presentations, impact and advocacy work, and the training of attorneys defending immigrants in the immigration and criminal justice arenas.
Each year, the YLS Chair selects the beneficiary of the Charity Event as a prerogative of their station. The daughter of immigrants, this year’s Chair, Indira K. Sharma, found certain high-profile events of the last year, such as the separation of families at the nation’s southern border, “very upsetting.”
“This country is a place for dreams to happen, and I felt that the American dream was being threatened,” said Sharma. “I wanted the Young Lawyers Section to be part of contributing to a wonderful organization, like CAIR, that is part of the solution.”
CAIR Detained Adult Program Director Kelly White thanked those in attendance, calling their support “crucial” to supporting the legal needs of the roughly 6,000 people across the region that the organization serves every year.
Past Charity Events have benefitted, among others, the Oyster Recovery Project, the One Love Foundation, and Warrior Canine Connection. Through such efforts, noted Sharma, YLS is “trying to better serve the community in which we live and work.” Learn more about YLS or any of MSBA’s 29 other Sections here.