Criminal Justice, COVID-19, and Immigration on the Reform Agenda in El Paso

Contact: 

Robert Elder, Communications Director 
512-374-2764, relder@trla.org 

Hannah Allison, Director of Events and Special Development
(512) 374-2704, hallison@trla.org 

Criminal Justice, COVID-19, and Immigration on the Reform Agenda in El Paso

Nov. 17, 2020

In El Paso, outgoing state Sen. José Rodríguez and other justice reform leaders will discuss criminal justice, immigration policies, and COVID-19’s crushing impact on Texas’ sixth-largest city in the next Finding the Way Forward conversation, a series hosted by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA). 

The El Paso conversation is on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. via Zoom Webinar. Attendees can purchase tickets in advance at www.trla.org/finding-the-way-forward. 

The conversation features Sen. Rodriguez, who has represented El Paso in Texas Senate since 2011, Octavio Dominguez, a deputy public defender in the El Paso County Public Defender’s office, and El Paso civil rights attorney Lynn Coyle. 

Arya Sundaram will moderate. She is a journalism fellow at the Texas Observer whose reporting focuses on criminal justice and immigration. 

The panelists will discuss: 

  • The priorities for criminal justice and immigration reform in light of the federal and state elections; 

  • Strategies for possible reforms in the El Paso police department, including new accountability measures for law enforcement; 

  • Incarceration during a worsening pandemic: How have law enforcement agencies, from the county sheriff to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, handled the COVID-19 crisis? 

  • El Paso’s new cite-and-release program for low-level marijuana possession, and the prospects for decriminalization statewide; 

  • The collateral damage caused by criminal arrests or penalties that result in the loss of employment, access to public housing, and burdensome fines and fees. 

Previous conversations in Finding the Way Forward took place on Sept. 30 in Travis County, Oct. 14 in Bexar County, and Oct. 28 for Victoria, Nueces, and other coastal counties. 

The final two conversations with local leaders in justice reform are: 

Dec. 3: Webb County 

Dec. 9: Rio Grande Valley 

Tickets for each conversation are $25. Ticket sales support TRLA’s ability to address the significant increase in the need for legal services across Southwest Texas. 

Complimentary access is available to the press. Contact Hannah Allison at hallison@trla.org for a virtual press pass. 

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney in 68 southwestern counties, including the entire Texas-Mexico border. TRLA attorneys specialize in more than 45 areas of the law, including disaster assistance, family, employment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, landlord-tenant, housing, education, immigration, farmworker, and civil rights. Our hotline is open from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (CST) Monday – Friday: (956) 996-8752.  

Chris Ramirez