Workshops & Panels

Events

Slatton & Hass hosts free workshops, panels, and know-your-rights events for the immigrant community. Upcoming events are listed first, with registration details. When we can, we record the rest and gather the materials right here, so you can catch what you missed or revisit what mattered.

Upcoming

Upcoming

November 20, 2026  ·  Mount Pleasant Library, Washington, DC  ·  In Person & Streamed Live

Your Day in Immigration Court: A Mock Individual Hearing, Start to Finish

Poster for Your Day in Immigration Court, Friday November 20 2026 at 2:30 PM at the Mount Pleasant Library in Washington DC

What it covers

Most people walk into immigration court having never seen one. So we are going to run one in front of you, from start to finish. Attorneys Victoria Slatton, Ashley Hass, Niamh Connolly, and Marium Choudhry will stage a full individual hearing, the hearing where a judge actually hears testimony and decides a case.

We start before the courtroom, with security, checking in, and the wait. Then the hearing itself, in order: where everyone sits, how an interpreter works and that the court provides one at no cost, questions from your own attorney and then from the government’s, what an objection sounds like and why it is not a crisis, and how the decision comes. We stop as we go to explain each step in plain language, and take questions at the end.

The facts of the case are invented, and no judge or government agency is involved. It is a demonstration by private attorneys, so watching it is not legal advice.

Who it is for

  • Anyone with a hearing scheduled
  • Family members coming along
  • Witnesses who have never testified
  • Advocates, interpreters & volunteers

Register

Free and open to the public at the Mount Pleasant Library, 3160 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20010. English with Spanish translation. Registering helps us plan seating, but it is not required and walk-ins are welcome with no screening. You do not need a case with our firm, or any case at all.

Event Details & Registration

Past Events

September 18, 2026  ·  Mt. Pleasant Library, Washington, DC  ·  Streamed Live

Detention Preparedness Workshop: Making a Plan for You, Your Family, and Your Community

The Detention Preparedness Workshop with the firm’s three partners ▶ Watch on YouTube

What it covered

Partners Victoria Slatton, Ashley Hass, and Jack Goodman walked through what it takes to be ready before anything happens. The session opened with why preparation matters to a case: when someone is detained, building their defense gets harder for reasons that have nothing to do with the merits, because documents sit in a house nobody can get into, nobody else knows the dates and details of their history, and signatures that need to be wet are difficult to arrange from inside a facility. It then moved to the practical side people rarely plan for, including who collects the children from school, who holds the emergency contacts, how medical needs and prescriptions are handled, how money reaches someone in detention, and who outside the household has a copy of everything. Attendees filled out their own plans in the room and took printed kits home. The workshop was conducted in English with Spanish translation and closed with a live Q&A.

Who it was for

  • Anyone with a pending case & their families
  • Parents & mixed status households
  • Neighbors, employers, teachers & faith leaders
  • Advocates & volunteers

Resources

The full recording is above, and everything we handed out that day is free on this site. Download the Detention Preparedness Kit, read our detention resource page for what happens in the first 48 hours, and save our 24 hour detention hotline, 240-891-4343, to call if someone has just been detained.

August 14, 2026  ·  Free Virtual Panel  ·  Streamed Live

Inside USCIS: How Non-Adversarial Adjudication, Officer Training & Agency Culture Shape Case Outcomes

The Inside USCIS panel with three former USCIS officers ▶ Watch on YouTube
A note on the recording: the panel discussion begins partway into the stream — this recording is cued to the start. Jump to where the panel starts (51:28) →

What it covered

Three former USCIS officers — our founder Victoria Slatton, Esq., Jason D. Marks, and Marta Nickols — pulled back the curtain on how USCIS actually decides cases, across the full range of what the agency handles: family-based and marriage petitions, employment-based cases, naturalization, and asylum. Unlike immigration court or an ICE interview, USCIS is designed to be non-adversarial — officers are trained to develop the record, review the evidence, and assess credibility rather than to cross-examine you. The panel unpacked what that means in practice: how officer training, agency culture, internal processes, and workload shape outcomes — and how any applicant, petitioner, or advocate can use the human element of USCIS in their favor through organization, consistency, and clear preparation. The session closed with a live Q&A and was streamed on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Who it was for

  • Applicants & petitioners with USCIS cases
  • Attorneys, advocates & law students
  • Community members & press

Resources

The full recording is above. Any handouts or materials from this panel will be posted here as they become available — check back, or reach out to us if there’s something specific you’re looking for.

July 17, 2026  ·  Mount Pleasant Library, Washington, DC

Free Mock Asylum Interview with a Former Asylum Officer

Victoria Slatton conducting the live mock asylum interview ▶ Watch on YouTube
A note on the audio: the first portion of this recording has no sound — the audio is restored partway through and stays clear for the rest of the session. Skip to where the sound starts (21:30) →

What it covered

Led by our founder, Victoria Slatton, Esq. — a former DHS Asylum Officer who personally adjudicated more than one hundred affirmative asylum applications — this session took attendees inside the asylum interview process. Victoria conducted a live mock interview using a composite, consented scenario rather than a real pending case, so nothing shared reflects any individual’s actual claim. She then broke down what officers are truly listening for, the most common misconceptions, and what strong testimony looks like. The event closed with a live Q&A featuring firm partners Victoria Slatton, Ashley Hass, and Jack Goodman. The interview was conducted in English with a Spanish translator.

Who it was for

  • Asylum seekers & their families
  • Attorneys, advocates & law students
  • Community members & press

Resources

Handouts and materials from this event will be posted here soon. Check back, or reach out to us if there’s something specific you’re looking for.

Have questions, or want to talk through your own case?

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