Think Immigration - American Immigration Laywers' Association
This blog is by the elected leadership of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), to help focus the national debate on the real facts about immigration and the means to achieve a just and rational system.
Updated: 13 min 50 sec ago
Governing with Blinders On
AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson describes how the border security debate ignores how border enforcement "works in the real world" and highlights how our "immigration system is very much out of step with economic and social reality."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Tool Time: What You Need to Sue the Government
AILA member Lori Chesser describes how business immigration law experts may want to explore litigation as an option for clients and highlights her recent win along with some useful AILA resources.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
AILA Stands with Our Members Against Government Retaliation
In this blog post, AILA President-Elect Marketa Lindt and AILA Treasurer Jeremy McKinney describe recent troubling events which could impact access to counsel for asylum seekers at the border and avow "We stand with our members...We stand ready to fight."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Agency Delays Enact the Administration’s Immigration Agenda
AILA Member Sandra Feist highlights another brick in the Trump administration's "invisible wall" relating to delays and obstacles to I-751 petitioners and the significant impact those delays can have on immigrants who "got in line" and their families as well.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Matter of A-B-: Case Updates, Current Trends, and Suggested Strategies
AILA Asylum and Refugee Committee Chair Dree Collopy describes Matter of A-B- and its potential impact on asylum law and previews an upcoming webinar on the topic that is open to interested practitioners.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
AILA Analysis Reveals Crisis-Level Delays in USCIS Case Processing
In this blog post, AILA Policy Counsel Jason Boyd shares key points from AILA's recent policy brief and explains how USCIS processing delays have reached crisis levels under the Trump administration.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act: What’s Wrong with the Trump-McConnell Bill
AILA Member Sabrina Damast highlights the damaging provisions in the bill supported by the administration to end the shutdown which would negatively impact Dreamers, TPS-recipients, and asylum seekers.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Go to Tijuana. Go Now.
In this blog post, AILA members Kara Lynum and Christina Brown describe their experience volunteering at the border with asylum seekers and urge other AILA members and the public to take action as well!
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Unintended Consequences
In this blog post, AILA Media Advocacy Committee Member Matthew Maiona highlights the unintended consequences of the shutdown, including a halt to the E-Verify program which allows U.S. employers to check the eligibility of applicants to work.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Serious about Border Security?
AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson takes a look at the real dangers to U.S. border security, writing "Were the President serious about border security, he would focus his administration's attention and resources on the transnational criminal cartels who deal drugs, run guns, and launder money."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
See Your Successes – the Justice Campaign’s Year in Numbers
Justice Campaign director Karen Lucas reflects on the difficulties and triumphs of 2018, writing that because of the amazing work of volunteers, the campaign “will enter 2019 with something that cannot and will not be deterred by anti-immigrant executive actions and rhetoric: hope."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Take Action: Comment on the H-1B Proposed Rule
AILA President-Elect Marketa Lindt urges AILA members to use AILA's Take Action tool to comment on the proposed H-1B rule, writing "this is an issue on which we as AILA members need to be heard."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
AILA Teams Up with the ACLU and Others to Tear Down Barriers to Access to Counsel
In this blog post, AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson describes the lawsuit AILA joined as plaintiff in response to ICE and Geo Group creating unlawful barriers to attorney-client communications.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Proposed H-1B Policy Creates New Uncertainty for American Employers
In this blog post, AILA Media Advocacy Committee Member Sandra Feist explains what the proposed H-1B rule would really mean for American employers and encourages a different path forward, in which "a more flexible, responsive visa program for professionals" is developed.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Protect the American Dream – Comment on the Public Charge Rule
In this blog post, AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson lays out what the proposed "public charge" rule would do and how anyone can lift their voice and submit a comment about how the rule would negatively impact America, writing "for the health and well-being of our society as a whole, we must resist this rule and all of its implications."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
USCIS’s New Policy is a Boon to Abusers and Traffickers
Christie Popp shares her experiences working with immigrant victims and witnesses of crimes and highlights how the new USCIS NTA policy for VAWA, U- and T-visas will hinder law enforcement efforts and cause harm, not only to applicants, but to their families and communities as well.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
A Dozen Years of PERM – A Practitioner’s Perspective
In this blog post, PERM expert Ceridwen Koski offers insights into how the PERM landscape has changed over the past dozen years and what AILA members can do to prepare themselves to meet their clients needs.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Ellis Island – A Window to our Past and Future
AILA Media Advocacy Committee Member Doug Penn visited Ellis Island and the ruins of the country's first public health hospital there; he urges all of us, "as you live and work, try to see your life from the perspective of Ellis Island - and live up to that statue in the harbor."
Categories: Immigration News Resources
TPS Holders Impacted by Immigration Scams
AILA member Anna Gallagher highlights the importance of avoiding scams and getting qualified counsel in an uncertain immigration environment, particularly those who hold Temporary Protected Status.
Categories: Immigration News Resources
Serving Those Who Serve Our Country
As we reflect on Veterans Day, this blog post offers insights into the impact of immigration law on members of the military and their families and encourages AILA members to "help a service member by bringing immigration legal expertise and a caring heart to bear on these important cases."
Categories: Immigration News Resources