 About
Us
North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) In late
2001, a handful of local South Asian bar association leaders
from across the country started meeting to discuss the possibility
of a national South Asian bar organization. Despite never
having met each other, they recognized the value of a national
organization and immediately set out to form the National
South Asian Bar Association. A little over a year later,
in early 2003, NASABA was formed.
It didn’t take very long for the
news of NASABA to spread throughout the country. NASABA
held its first national conference on June 18-24, 2004 in
Santa Monica, California with over 350 South Asian lawyers
from across the country. The theme of the conference was
simple yet powerful: “Oneness – Uniting South
Asian Lawyers Across America.” By then, NASABA had
already grown from 8 founding chapters to 16 member chapters
across throughout the country. This initial gathering laid
the foundation for building a national organization to unite
an ever-increasing body of South Asian lawyers.
In its short existence, NASABA has achieved
much for South Asian lawyers and the South Asian community.
The following are just a few of NASABA’s achievements
over the years:
NASABA expanded its reach to 25 local chapters
including local South Asian bar chapters in Ottawa, Vancouver
and Toronto. As a result of its expansion outside the country,
NASABA became the North American South Asian Bar Association.
NASABA formed an Advisory Counsel (NAC),
the very first unified gathering of the senior-most South
Asian bar in the United States and Canada. The NAC is charged
with providing guidance and input on NASABA's long-term
goals and other sensitive projects.
Together with other national South Asian
organizations, NASABA meets regularly with representatives
from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland
Security, and other federal agencies to discuss issues affecting
the South Asian community, including domestic surveillance,
the Patriot Act, immigrant registration, hate crimes and
racial profiling.
NASABA helped facilitate the passage in
Congress of a private bill of relief known as the Waqar
Hassan Bill (H.R. Con. Res. 867, 108th Cong. (2004)). Mr.
Hassan – a Pakistani immigrant – was a victim
of a post-9/11 hate crime murder. As a result of his murder,
his wife and four daughters faced being deported back to
Pakistan. With the help of NASABA and other organizations,
Congress passed a bill giving Mr. Hassan’s family
permanent residency in the United States.
NASABA has several active committees that
serve various interests of South Asian lawyers and the South
Asian community. |
