Fifth Annual Immigrant Achievement Awards Ceremony!
Posted Apr 10, 2000

On March 31, 2000, the American Immigration Law Foundation hosted the Fifth Annual Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. This event was the grand culmination of several days of activities dealing with U.S. immigration law matters. 
 
Attorney Murthy spent the entire day on Thursday, March 30, 2000, meeting with key legislators and their immigration law aides to discuss various Bills pending both in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate dealing with immigration law matters. On Friday, March 31, 2000, we attended and met with various senior officials of the INS, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of State, to discuss and obtain clarifications on various legal issues. 
 
We thought it would be interesting to provide a brief overview of the festivities on the Immigrant Achievement Awards, since each of the awardees symbolizes the very reason we enjoy practicing immigration law. They show us, how each of them, and each of us, either as immigrants ourselves or as members of a nation of immigrants, have contributed tremendously to the greatness and leadership of America. 
 
Mark Plotkin was the enthusiastic and highly entertaining M.C. of the event. Plotkin is an award-winning political commentator best known for his show on National Public Radio, but even he had a challenge in the pronunciation of the Candidates' names. His reference to Dr. Demetrios G. Papademetriou (brief summary below) as "Dr. Papa" (and Dr. Papademetriou's later introduction of his spouse as "Mrs. Papa") delighted the audience. This gala event brought people from all over the U.S. to hear stories of the marvelous contributions made by six outstanding U.S. immigrants, described in brief below:
 
Enrique Graf, originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, has given piano recitals all over the world. His recording "Enrique Graf Plays Bach" was called "an end to the discussion of whether or not Bach should be played on the piano" by Paul Hume of The Washington Post.
 
Luis J. Lauredo, a native of Cuba, was appointed by President Clinton as the Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the Organization of American States ("OAS"). The OAS is the diplomatic organization that serves as the premier political forum of the Americas for multilateral decision-making. Recently, Hispanic Business magazine called him one of the nation's top "100 Influential Hispanics."
 
Carlos Llamosa is a Defender for the D.C. United Major League Soccer team. He was born in Palmira, Colombia, the youngest of eleven children.
 
Demetrios G. Papademetriou, originally from Greece, has devoted his career to migration policy and research and is now the Senior Associate & Co-Director of the International Migration Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for international Peace. Dr. Papademetriou received his Ph.D. in Political Science (International Relations and Comparative Public Policy/Europe) from the University of Maryland, and then taught there for three years. He has also taught at the American University and at Duke University. He regularly advises U.S. and foreign foundations, public policy research institutions, government panels, international organizations, and numerous non-governmental organizations engaged in immigration and refugee issues.
 
John F. Timoney, a native of Dublin, Ireland, is the Police Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia. He is in great demand as an advisor on how to police multiracial urban communities effectively yet peacefully. He has long been an outspoken advocate of the importance of higher education for police officers. Commissioner Timoney, who has completed three marathons, is also a strong believer in physical fitness of police officers.
 
Vo N. Tran came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1975. He landed in a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. He now holds an M.S. degree in Computer Science. Tran founded the company that introduced the first graphical network documentation tool for computers, resulting in a 1995 Product of the Year Award. 
 
As mentioned before, The Law Office of Sheela Murthy was a proud Sponsor of the Event and the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers was a proud Patron of the Immigrant Achievement Awards Ceremony held at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. Several associates and paralegals of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. were present to participate in this important event in recognition of these extraordinary contributors to U.S. politics, policy, and culture.