Public Defenders, ICE and Deportations: AAPIs in the crosshairs

Sponsors: Institute of Government Studies, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, Asian American Research Center, Center for Race and Gender

How have aggressive, militarized ICE deportation tactics impacted the rights of AAPI and marginalized communities? How are public defenders mounting legal challenges to these tactics? 

Please join us for a conversation with Manohar Raju, San Francisco’s Public Defender, and Ali Saidi, Deputy Public Defender Contra Costa County, about their legal defense work on behalf of their clients.

Mano Raju is the elected Public Defender of San Francisco, California. He completed his undergraduate work at Columbia, earned a Master’s degree in South Asian Studies from U.C. Berkeley, and acquired his law degree at U.C. Berkeley Law. Known as a fierce litigator, Mano has lectured on how to provide effective and skillful defense in homicide and gang cases and race-conscious representation. He believes in holistic representation, getting to know his clients, their families, and communities, as well as connecting people to reentry opportunities. During his tenure in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Mano has launched innovative programs, such as the “Be the Jury” Program, Young Defender Program, End the Cycle Initiative, Freedom Project, College Pathway Project, and Integrity Unit. As the only elected Public Defender in California, Mano continues to grow the office’s capacity to provide the highest level representation and zealous advocacy toward more equity and humanity in the criminal legal system.

Ali Saidi founded and leads the immigration unit at the Office of the Public Defender for Contra Costa County. He is the Director of Stand Together Contra Costa, the rapid response and immigration legal services program for Contra Costa County administered by the Office of the Public Defender. Ali is an immigrant from Iran and a Deputy Public Defender who specializes in the intersection between immigration law and criminal law. For over twenty years, he has been using both litigation and policy advocacy to fight for community-members dehumanized by our systems of mass incarceration and mass deportation. He has taught criminal defense pre-trial advocacy at Berkeley School of Law, and he has practiced criminal defense and deportation defense throughout the Bay Area and before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ali received his B.A. from the University of California, at Berkeley and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Ali has served on the Contra Costa County Measure X Community Advisory Board, the Contra Costa County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee, and the Core Team for the launch of Contra Costa’s Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice. In his free time, Ali is an active participant in immigrant rights and anti-violence advocacy efforts in our community. He is a founding member of the Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance where he serves as Board Director, and Ali is active in the Contra Costa Racial Justice Coalition and the Reimagine Public Safety Contra Costa Campaign. Ali recently co-founded the Immigrant Action Network which is launching a new Welcoming Immigrants Support Hub in Contra Costa County called the SAFE Center (Services & Access For Everyone Center). 

RSVP Here: https://tinyurl.com/PublicDefendersEvent2025