OVERVIEW

Format:Hybrid (In person at VAAP office + Microsoft Teams - link with RSVP)

Duration: Full business day (9:00 AM – 5:00 PM; optional happy hour until 6:00 PM)

Faculty: Jill Martin Diaz, Esq., Executive Director

CLE: Pending (subject to VLA co-sponsorship)

RSVP: Email info@vaapvt.org and await email confirmation including the MS Teams meeting link and links to the referenced “Syllabus A” and “Syllabus B.”

Objectives: This VAAP Immigration Academy pilot is not designed to be a standalone training. It is the entry point into VAAP’s broader learning, supervision, and practice ecosystem. This Academy:

• introduces VAAP’s mission, values, and practice model

• provides foundational orientation to U.S. immigration law

• emphasizes ethical, supervised entry into practice

• orients participants to self-guided study through VAAP syllabi

• explains how VAAP-supported work flows from onboarding to implementation

It does not prepare attendees for immediate, unsupervised immigration representation under VAAP’s practice insurance.

Agenda & Teaching Plan

9:00 – 9:45 AM, Session 1: Welcome to VAAP — Mission, Model, & Ethos

Corresponds to: Syllabus A, Module 1 + Module 2 (link provided)

Goals:

• Ground participants in why VAAP practices immigration law the way it does

• Make VAAP’s values legible as practice choices, not abstractions

• Set expectations for supported, ethical engagement

Topics:

• VAAP’s mission and origins

• Clinic-based, collaborative, and capacity-building model

• Core values in practice (clarity, consent, supervision, sustainability)

• What VAAP is — and is not

• Why immigration law requires institutional humility

Format: Plenary + discussion

9:45 – 10:30 AM, Session 2: How VAAP Trains, Supervises, and Supports Practice

Corresponds to: Syllabus A, Modules 3, 6, and 7 (link provided)

Goals:

• Introduce VAAP’s learning architecture

• Normalize ongoing supervision and staged responsibility

• Reduce anxiety about “not knowing enough”

Topics:

• Syllabus A as the shared onboarding baseline (link provided)

• Syllabus B as guided self-study (not a test - link provided)

• The role of supervision, documentation, and escalation

• “Practice-ready” vs. “independently competent”

• Why VAAP does not rush people into cases

Format: Lecture + Q&A

10:30 – 10:45 AM, Break

Recommended food and drink linked here and break spots linked here.

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM, Session 3: Foundations of the U.S. Immigration System

Corresponds to: Syllabus B, Module 1 (link provided)

Goals:

• Establish shared conceptual grounding

• Center power, exclusion, and legal status

• Introduce core terminology and structures

Topics:

• Immigration status as “the right to have rights”

• Historical roots: racism, labor, and exclusion

• Key terms and distinctions

• Agencies, courts, and jurisdiction

Format: Lecture + guided discussion

12:15 – 1:15 PM, Lunch

Diet-inclusive pizza and salad lunch provided.

1:15 – 2:30 PM, Session 4: Immigration Status — Pathways, Permissions, and Precarity

Corresponds to: Syllabus B, Modules 2–3 (link provided)

Goals:

• Demystify how people gain (or fail to gain) lawful status

• Distinguish pathways from temporary protections

• Introduce discretion and bars without doctrinal overload

Topics:

• Immigrant vs. nonimmigrant pathways

• Temporary protections (parole, deferred action)

• Entry, admission, and presence

• Mandatory bars and discretionary decision-making

Format: Lecture + hypotheticals

2:30 – 2:45 PM, Break

Recommended food and drink linked here and break spots linked here.

2:45 – 3:45 PM, Session 5: Losing Status, Removability, Detention, and Risk

Corresponds to: Syllabus B, Modules 4–5 (link provided)

Goals:

• Understand how people become removable

• Introduce detention as a legal and human rights issue

• Identify high-risk moments requiring supervision

Topics:

• Grounds of removability

• Removal processes in broad strokes

• Immigration detention basics

• Where urgency and harm concentrate

Format: Lecture + issue-spotting

3:45 – 4:30 PM, Session 6: From Onboarding to Implementation — How VAAP Work Actually Flows

This is the “nuts and bolts” session

Goals:

• Make VAAP practice pathways concrete

• Reduce mystery about how to get involved

• Clarify boundaries and expectations

Topics:

• Typical VAAP entry points (clinics, screening, research, support roles)

• What onboarding looks like in practice

• How supervision works day-to-day

• How people move from observation → participation → responsibility

• Common pitfalls for new immigration practitioners

• When VAAP refers out vs. takes on work

Format: Walkthrough + Q&A

4:30 – 5:00 PM, Closing: What Comes Next — Learning, CLEs, & VAAP Pathways

Goals:

• Orient participants to continued learning

• Reinforce that this Academy is a beginning

• Provide clear next steps

Topics:

• Using Syllabus B for self-study (link provided)

• VAAP Academy and future trainings

• CLE opportunities throughout the year

• Feebdack survey & how to stay connected with VAAP

5:00 – 6:00 PM, Happy Hour

VAAP toasts the newcomers across the street at the ‘Nender (pay your own way)

Note: CLE approval for this training is pending, subject to certification and potential co-sponsorship by Vermont Legal Aid (VLA). Attendees will be notified in advance if CLE credit is approved. Note VAAP offers ongoing CLE-eligible trainings throughout the year relevant to immigration law, detention defense, ethics, and supervised entry into practice. This Academy is designed to support sustained learning, not one-day mastery.

Ready to register? Please email RSVP

Email info@vaapvt.org and await email confirmation including the MS Teams meeting link and links to the referenced “Syllabus A” and “Syllabus B.” Registration for the February 2026 pilot is free of charge.