Shadow Politics, February 12, 2017
Our guest Takao Yamada, a Seattle-based attorney and entrepreneur, is a co-founder of AirportLawyer.org. Yamada, along with a group of volunteer attorneys and software developers, created a new app to help travelers impacted by the Trump Administration’s 'immigration ban'. Airport Lawyer (https://www.airportlawyer.org/) connects refugees, immigrants and other travelers who possess valid U.S. visas and green cards from the seven previously banned countries, with teams of volunteer attorneys on the ground. Using Airport Lawyer, a community member can input information about herself, or a friend or family member traveling into the United States. That information is then shared securely with localized teams of volunteer lawyers, who can be available at the airport to monitor the arrival.
Guest, Takao Yamada
Takao Yamada, a Seattle-based attorney and entrepreneur, is a co-founder of AirportLawyer.org (https://www.airportlawyer.org/). This web app connects refugees, immigrants and other travelers affected by the recent presidential executive orders with volunteer lawyers on the ground. After helping coordinate the emergency legal response at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Yamada developed the app AirportLawyer.org with immigration attorney Greg McLawsen and the legal technology companies Clio (https://www.clio.com/) and Neota Logic (https://www.neotalogic.com/). Yamada is deeply committed to connecting technology entrepreneurship with activism to amplify the social justice impact of both. He has worked in public policy and politics for a number of years. In addition to co-founding tech start-ups, Yamada has worked for the Washington State legislature and, as a clerk for Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court Mary Yu, helped facilitate the first same-sex marriage in Washington state. Yamada is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 2011) and Hobart and William Smith Colleges (B.A., Political Science &Government, 2002).
Airport Lawyer is currently live for Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Denver International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. The group behind the project plans to rollout coverage at all major U.S. international airports. Go to https://www.airportlawyer.org/updates/2017/2/7/press-release-feb-7-2017
Shadow Politics
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