Immigration reform in the United States has been a goal for people across the political spectrum for decades, but policy solutions have eluded us. Recent drastic changes to policy and enforcement have created a sense of chaos and it can be hard to understand the impacts of these national changes on South Carolinians.
Are due process rights for immigrants being upheld in our local communities? How are enforcement efforts impacting our schoolchildren? What are the impacts on the South Carolina workforce and economy?
Our panelists will give us insight into each of these questions and more. Meet the panelists:
Cynthia A. Aziz is a North Carolina Board Certified Immigration Law Specialist. She founded Aziz Firm in 1990. She is the proud recipient of the Mecklenburg County Bar’s 2023-2024 Ayscue Professional Award. Cynthia is currently serving as an AILA liaison to the Charlotte Immigration Court and serves on the North Carolina State Bar’s Specialization Committee. She has been an enthusiastic engaged member of American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) both locally and nationally for over 36 years. She is a past Chair of the Carolinas Chapter of AILA. She has been licensed to practice law in North Carolina since 1989 and in Massachusetts since 1988. She has been
admitted to practice before the Federal Courts in North Carolina and Massachusetts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Cynthia graduated from Mount Holyoke College and received her J.D. from New England School of Law, Boston, MA
Nina Cano attended and graduated from Winthrop University in 2010 and from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2013 where she obtained her Doctor of Jurisprudence and earned 5 national awards for appellate advocacy through the Moot Court program. Nina was also part of the Migrant Farmworkers project where she investigated labor rights abuse for migrant farmworkers in Ocala, FL. After law school, Nina worked for the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project at the Texas-Mexico border providing pro bono representation to unaccompanied minor children from Central America during the UAC crisis of 2014. At 25 years old, Nina founded Cano Law, LLC growing from a solo practice to a thriving law firm employing a fully bilingual all-female staff from the U.S.A., Bolivia, and Mexico. Cano Law has provided essential legal services to accessible to Spanish speakers through know your right presentations in collaboration with non-profits, churches, and government agencies throughout Charleston. Nina is a member of the Florida, Texas, and South Carolina state bars. During her off-time, Nina participates in several community organizations including as an a board member of the South Carolina Bar Board of Governors and serves on the board of the ACLU of South Carolina.
Will McCorkle is an associate professor of teacher education at the College of Charleston. He was previously a secondary social studies teacher in Central America and South Carolina. His research focuses on immigration, authoritarianism, and education policy. He has worked extensively along the U.S.–Mexico border with asylum seekers and also conducted research on migration in the Darién Gap, at the Venezuela–Colombia border, the Poland–Ukraine border, and on the Greek island of Lesbos. More recently, he helped create a rapid response network against the actions of ICE in Charleston, South Carolina and done research on the impact of ICE in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, and Charlotte. He has published in academic journals as well as in national media outlets such as The Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Houston Chronicle, and Dallas Morning News. Will believes it is important to continue bridging the gap between academia and public activism, especially at a time when human rights, particularly those of refugees and asylum seekers, are under attack by authoritarian figures in the United States and globally.
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