AILA Presents Immigration Equality with the 2014 Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, June 21, 2014

AILA PRESENTS IMMIGRATION EQUALITY WITH THE 2014 ARTHUR C. HELTON MEMORIAL HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD

BOSTON,MA — The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) awarded Immigration Equality with the 2014 Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award for outstanding service in advancing the cause of human rights. A representative of the organization will receive the award today during AILA's Annual Conference in Boston, MA.

Immigration Equality is the national leader in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV-positive immigration rights and has changed the lives of thousands since its founding in 1994 by working tirelessly to keep LGBT binational families together in the United States. By filing the first federal lawsuit to challenge the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) specifically within the immigration context, they brought the issue of LGBT binational families to the public's attention.

The organization ensured that prosecutorial discretion would be granted to long-term LGBT partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents and when the Supreme Court struck down DOMA in 2013, Immigration Equality continued to work with the Administration to ensure equal rights were implemented for LGBT binational families.

Each and every day, Immigration Equality makes a difference in peoples' lives by operating the nation's only full-time hotline for LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants, answering thousands of inquiries each year and providing direct representation and advocacy for binational couples, asylum seekers, and immigrant detainees.

Immigration Equality has developed training for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services USCIS asylum officers on issues related to LGBT claims. They have also helped draft training materials for detention staff who work with LGBT immigrants and advocate for structural changes to the detention system that would better account for the unique vulnerabilities of LGBT people in detention settings.

For all of their efforts and truly committed work, AILA is honored to name Immigration Equality the 2014 Arthur C. Helton Memorial Human Rights Award winner.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.