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Postings2018
Trump Administration Sows Chaos, Risks Lives with “Remain in Mexico” Policy
12/20/2018AILA responds to the government’s new policy that would force most asylum seekers who have passed a preliminary screening to remain in Mexico pending a full hearing before an immigration judge, and calls on them to immediately restore asylum seekers’ ability to pursue their claims inside the U.S.AILA Doc. No. 18122040Judge Finds Attorney General’s Gutting of Asylum Protections Unlawful
12/20/2018AILA President Anastasia Tonello and Executive Director Benjamin Johnson responded to today’s ruling striking down key portions of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision in Matter of A-B-, which restricted asylum for victims of domestic and gang violence.AILA Doc. No. 18121940Trump Administration Issues Advance Copy of Rule Intended to Gut Asylum Seekers’ Due Process Rights
11/8/2018AILA responded to the advance copy of an interim rule issued by the Trump administration that would gut asylum seekers’ due process rights; a presidential proclamation is expected Friday, November 9, 2018.AILA Doc. No. 18110860Trump Places Partisan Politics Over Real Solutions in Muddled Speech on Immigration
11/1/2018AILA responded to President Trump’s announced plans to rewrite American asylum law and procedures and construct tent cities where families and asylum seekers will be detained for years. Details of the plan were not offered, but will reportedly be announced next week.AILA Doc. No. 18110138Fastcase Partners with the American Immigration Lawyers Association to Publish New Journal
10/31/2018Announcing the new AILA Law Journal, AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson noted, “All of our 15,000+ members are hungry for new and innovative resources that they can turn to for insights and advice that will help them serve their clients and advance the understanding of immigration law.”AILA Doc. No. 18103161The Need for an Independent Immigration Court Grows More Urgent As DOJ Imposes Quotas on Immigration Judges
10/1/2018As DOJ begins implementing case completion quotas, requiring immigration judges to finish 700 cases per year or face disciplinary action, AILA voices its opposition to these quotas and renews its call for the creation of an independent Article I immigration court.AILA Doc. No. 18100103New Rule Would Impose Class-Based Limits on Immigration, Bringing Harm to Hardworking Families
9/24/2018AILA condemned the proposed “public charge” rule because it “would prevent many immigrants from securing lawful permanent residence and remaining with their families…simply because they previously received some type of basic health care support, nutrition assistance, or other vital services.”AILA Doc. No. 18092470Attorney General’s Concerted Effort to Strip Immigration Judges of Judicial Independence Continues
9/19/2018In response to the AG's decision in Matter of S-O-G- & F-D-B-, which will prevent judges from terminating a case except in exceptionally narrow circumstances and waste the court's time and resources, AILA again called on Congress to create an independent Article I immigration court.AILA Doc. No. 18091938AILA and NALEO Educational Fund to Help Thousands of Aspiring New Americans on National Citizenship Day
9/12/2018AILA and NALEO Educational Fund proudly sponsor AILA Citizenship Day, taking place on Saturday, September 15, 2018; now in its twelfth year, this event brings together AILA attorneys, NALEO affiliates, law students, paralegals, interpreters, and community members to help those seeking to naturalize.AILA Doc. No. 18091231AG Sessions’ Remarks Emphasize Need for Independent Immigration Courts
9/10/2018AILA responds to remarks delivered by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to a group of 44 new immigration judges.AILA Doc. No. 18091042Trump Administration Lines Up End Run Around Protections for Detained Children
9/6/2018The Trump administration announced plans to release proposed changes to regulations that are intended to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, a decades-old court settlement put in place to ensure the safety and proper care of children in immigration detention.AILA Doc. No. 18090632AILA and Council File Complaint Regarding Coercive Tactics Used by Immigration Officials on Separated Parents
8/23/2018Resources on the AILA and American Immigration Council complaint, filed with the DHS OIG and CRCL regarding a pervasive and illegal practice by DHS officials of coercing parents into signing documents, ostensibly waiving their legal rights, including their right to be reunified with their children.AILA Doc. No. 18082370Trump Administration Further Undermines Judicial Independence
8/17/2018AILA responds to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision in Matter of L-A-B-R-, which limits the discretion of immigration judges to grant continuances.AILA Doc. No. 18081736Immigration Judges Spotlight DOJ Hijacking of Court Independence
8/8/2018Today, NAIJ accused EOIR of violating the Constitution, federal statute and the NAIJ’s union contract by stripping cases away from a judge; Jeremy McKinney, AILA Treasurer noted the grievance “puts the spotlight on how fundamentally compromised our immigration court system has become.”AILA Doc. No. 18080834AILA: U.S. Must Reunify Families, Stay Their Removal, and Provide for the Return of 400+ Parents Deported Without Their Children
7/26/2018AILA calls for an immediate stay of the removal and release from custody of all of the victims of this family separation strategy so the families are afforded the chance to be represented by an attorney and to file claims for relief if they are eligible.AILA Doc. No. 18072670DHS Instruction to Asylum Officers Violates U.S. and International Law
7/12/2018Late on July 11, 2018, USCIS and ICE issued guidance redefining core principles of America’s asylum laws which will have far-reaching implications for asylum seekers, refugees, and others.AILA Doc. No. 18071233New USCIS Policy Will Needlessly Push Thousands More Cases into the Deportation Machinery
7/6/2018In this statement, AILA highlights how the new guidance published by USCIS regarding Notices to Appear (NTAs) will needlessly push thousands more cases into the deportation machinery, further clogging the already backlogged immigration court system.AILA Doc. No. 18070604Supreme Court Upholds Muslim Ban, Strengthens “Invisible Wall”
6/26/2018Reflecting on the 5-4 Supreme Court decision today, AILA President Anastasia Tonello stated that AILA will continue to “work to ensure that fairness, due process, and the free exercise of religion and expression are reflected in our nation’s immigration laws and policies.”AILA Doc. No. 18062637AILA: Expanding Family Detention Is Not the Answer to Cruel Family Separation Policy
6/20/2018Responding to the Executive Order regarding family separation, AILA President Anastasia Tonello stated, “The barriers to due process that AILA attorneys have encountered at every detention facility only underscore what needs to happen: both family separation and family detention must end.”AILA Doc. No. 18062036AILA: Once Again, Congress Holds DREAMers Hostage
6/15/2018As Congress gears up to vote on two immigration bills next week, AILA President Anastasia Tonello and Executive Director Ben Johnson raise serious concerns about the provisions which would, among other things, severely cut legal immigration, undermine vital protections for vulnerable populations.AILA Doc. No. 18061561AILA Elects New Officers for 2018-2019
6/14/2018Today, Anastasia Tonello was installed as AILA’s President at AILA’s Annual Conference and the following officers were elected: Marketa Lindt as President-Elect, Jennifer Minear as First Vice President, Allen Orr as Second Vice President, Jeremy McKinney as Treasurer, and Farshad Owji as Secretary.AILA Doc. No. 18061430New Edition of Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook Released by AILA
6/14/2018The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is proud to release the 16th edition of Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook at the 2018 AILA Annual Conference being held in San Francisco this week.AILA Doc. No. 18061400AILA Presents Cyrus D. Mehta with the 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Cyrus D. Mehta with the 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law. He will receive the award this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061331Immigration Attorneys Offer Free Legal Consultations in San Francisco on June 16
6/12/2018This Saturday, June 16, 2018, AILA, in partnership with AILA’s Northern California Chapter and La Raza Centro Legal, will offer free immigration law consultations. Immigration attorneys will be available to answer questions and assist immigrants with a variety of immigration-related questions.AILA Doc. No. 18061231Attorney General Pushes Immigration Judges to Deny Asylum to Victims of Violence
6/11/2018AILA responds to the Attorney General's precedent decision in which he vacated the BIA decision in Matter of A- B and announced that in his view, domestic violence victims and other victims of crimes perpetrated by private, non-government actors do not generally qualify for asylum.AILA Doc. No. 18061136AILA Presents the MAVNI Litigation Team of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, & Jacobson LLP with the 2018 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize the MAVNI Litigation Team of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP with the 2018 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061195AILA Recognizes Helen L. Tarokic with the 2018 Sam Williamson Mentor Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Helen L. Tarokic, of Wilmington, North Carolina, with the 2018 Sam Williamson Mentor Award for her outstanding counsel to immigration attorneys by providing mentoring assistance. The award will be presented this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061194AILA Presents Dagmar Butte with the 2018 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Dagmar Butte of Portland, OR, with the 2018 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award for her outstanding service in advancing the mission, development, and values of AILA. She will receive the award this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061193AILA Presents Patrick Taurel with the 2018 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Patrick Taurel, of Washington, D.C., with the 2018 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award for his outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law. He will receive the award this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061192AILA Presents Jonathan Blitzer and Sarah Stillman of The New Yorker with the 2018 Media Leadership Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize The New Yorker's Jonathan Blitzer and Sarah Stillman with the 2018 Media Leadership Award, for individuals whose efforts in the media most accurately depict immigration and immigrants. The award will be presented this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061191AILA Presents Sheila Starkey Hahn with the 2018 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Sheila Starkey Hahn, of Memphis, Tennessee, with the 2018 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field. The award will be presented this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061190AILA Presents John C. Keller with the 2018 Arthur C. Helton Memorial Human Rights Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize John C. Keller with the 2018 Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award for outstanding service in advancing the cause of human rights this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061106AILA Presents Rebecca Sharpless with the 2018 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Rebecca Sharpless of the University of Miami School of Law with the 2018 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061105AILA Presents Dilruba Hashim and Tracie L. Klinke with the 2018 Advocacy Award
6/11/2018AILA will recognize Dilruba Hashim, of Washington, D.C., and Tracie L. Klinke, of Marietta, Georgia, with the 2018 Advocacy Award for outstanding efforts in support of AILA’s advocacy agenda. They will accept their awards this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco.AILA Doc. No. 18061104Complaint Filed with DHS Oversight Bodies Calls for Improvements to Medical and Mental Health Care of Immigrants in Aurora Detention Center
6/4/2018AILA and American Immigration Council released a press release on their complaint, filed 6/4/18, regarding inadequate access to medical and mental health care for immigrants detained at the Denver Contract Detention Facility, which is owned and operated by the private prison company Geo Group, Inc.AILA Doc. No. 18060433AG’s Latest Move Further Erodes the Independence of Immigration Judges
5/17/2018The AG announced that immigration judges and members of the BIA may no longer “administratively close” cases, except cases that meet very narrow criteria, eliminating a critical docket management tool and effectively ensuring that the courts will remain encumbered with massive backlogs.AILA Doc. No. 18051753ICE Has Missed Two Detention Reporting Deadlines Set by Congress in March
5/17/2018AILA joined other organizations calling on congressional appropriators to hold ICE accountable for violations of congressionally imposed transparency obligations in the ever-expanding immigration detention system.AILA Doc. No. 18051738DOJ and DHS Decide to Forcibly Separate Families and Prosecute Asylum Seekers
5/8/2018As DHS and DOJ announced new efforts that will result in the forcible separation of vulnerable families seeking protection in the United States under U.S. law, AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson called the decision “a gross injustice.”AILA Doc. No. 18050800Termination of TPS for Honduras Will Tear Apart Families and Harm American Businesses
5/4/2018DHS announced that TPS for approximately 57,000 Honduran nationals will end on January 5, 2020. In this statement, AILA President Annaluisa Padilla responded to the news and called on Congress to “pass a permanent fix to provide relief for long-term TPS beneficiaries.”AILA Doc. No. 18050436DOJ Reverses Course on Legal Orientation Program, For Now
4/25/2018AILA and the American Immigration Council welcomed the news that the Department of Justice will not halt the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) for now; AILA and the Council again highlighted the LOP’s benefits to the efficiency and effectiveness of the immigration court system.AILA Doc. No. 18042539DOJ Ignores Set of Recommendations to Strengthen Immigration Court System Efficiency and Effectiveness
4/23/2018In response to a FOIA request, AILA and the American Immigration Council received a partially redacted report written by Booz Allen Hamilton and commissioned by EOIR which offers recommendations to ensure efficient proceedings and due process. The administration, however, has done the opposite.AILA Doc. No. 18042015AILA: H-1B Numbers Show America is Losing Out on Talent
4/13/2018AILA responds to the news that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it received 190,098 new H-1B visa cap-subject petitions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, down from approximately 199,000 in FY 2018.AILA Doc. No. 18041332DOJ Cuts Immigrants’ Access to Counsel in Latest Attack on Due Process
4/11/2018AILA and the American Immigration Council responded to the recent news that DOJ was halting the Legal Orientation Program despite the program’s success and congressional directives to maintain it.AILA Doc. No. 18041133AILA: Outdated Immigration Laws Locking Out Job Creators
4/6/2018AILA responded to the USCIS announcement that the agency has received more than enough H-1B petitions within the first five business days of the FY2019 filing period to reach the annual H-1B cap.AILA Doc. No. 18040637DOJ Strips Immigration Courts of Independence
4/3/2018In a joint statement, AILA and the American Immigration Council responded to the imposition of strict quotas as part of immigration judges’ performance evaluations, a shift that strips away the independence held by judges who are making high stakes decisions about whether a person will be deported.AILA Doc. No. 18040330ICE Formalizes Inhumane Detention Policies for Pregnant Women
3/29/2018In a joint statement with the American Immigration Council, AILA responds to a recently released ICE directive that formalizes the agency’s practice of detaining pregnant women.AILA Doc. No. 18032937Congress Set to Approve Funding Deal, Leaves Dreamers Out in the Cold
3/21/2018With Congress set to approve billions of additional funding for immigration enforcement as part of the spending package funding the federal government through September 30, AILA President Annaluisa Padilla noted, “It is absolutely shameful that there is no solution for Dreamers in this legislation.”AILA Doc. No. 18032107AILA’s “Invisible Wall” Report Sheds Light on Trump Administration Policies to Restrict Legal Immigration
3/21/2018AILA’s new report, “Deconstructing the Invisible Wall: How Policy Changes by the Trump Administration are Slowing and Restricting Legal Immigration” highlights the broad array of policy and procedural changes that are harming U.S. businesses, American families, and the national economy.AILA Doc. No. 18031936AILA Report “Cogs in the Deportation Machine” Shows Massive Escalation of Immigration Enforcement
3/14/2018AILA released a new report detailing how the Trump administration has systematically increased enforcement, using harsh, indiscriminate methods to deport thousands of families, asylum seekers, and people who have lived and worked for years in the United States.AILA Doc. No. 18031239Civil Rights Report Describes Legal Liabilities for Local Police that Detain Immigrants for ICE
3/7/2018AILA and four other organizations issued a press release about their new report detailing the illegalities inherent in each of the U.S. government’s attempts to enlist local law enforcement authorities to arrest and detain people on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).AILA Doc. No. 18030638SCOTUS Jennings Decision Won’t Be the Last Word on Bond Hearings for Immigrants
2/27/2018AILA reacted to and explained today’s Supreme Court decision in Jennings v. Rodriguez; AILA President Annaluisa Padilla emphasized that the decision “does not mean that immigrants may be detained indefinitely and it does not mean that prolonged detention is constitutional.”AILA Doc. No. 18022741Rewrite of USCIS Mission Statement Cannot Change America’s Identity as a Nation of Immigrants
2/23/2018AILA expresses its deep disappointment at the Trump administration’s rewrite of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) mission statement to, among other things, remove the phrase “a nation of immigrants.”AILA Doc. No. 18022333Senate Bipartisan Efforts to Save Dreamers Destroyed by Veto Threat
2/16/2018AILA expressed deep disappointment in the failure of the Senate to pass commonsense reforms to protect Dreamers. At the same time, AILA commends the many senators who stood firm against the nativist voices demanding legislation to gut legal immigration and make our country weaker.AILA Doc. No. 18021635White House Appeals to Nativist Base with Anti-Immigrant Proposal
1/25/2018AILA denounced the latest iteration of the Trump administration’s proposal on immigration as destructive and untenable.AILA Doc. No. 18012561Another Bipartisan Failure to Protect Dreamers
1/22/2018AILA issued a statement about how “Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, once again let politics take precedence over the lives of real people, and has squandered another opportunity to protect Dreamers.”AILA Doc. No. 18012244President’s Discriminatory Rhetoric Is an Affront to American Values
1/12/2018AILA responded to President Trump’s derogatory and hateful comments about Haiti, El Salvador, and several African countries.AILA Doc. No. 18011299Immigration Justice Campaign and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network Announce New Partnership
1/12/2018The Immigration Justice Campaign, a joint initiative between AILA and the American Immigration Council, announces its partnership with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) in an effort to increase the legal representation of detained immigrants.AILA Doc. No. 18011205AILA Condemns Termination of TPS for Salvadorans, Calls on Congress to Act
1/8/2018AILA is deeply disappointed by the administration’s decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 200,000 nationals of El Salvador, effective September 9, 2019, stating that the “misguided and inhumane decision” will harm “communities, families, and businesses across the nation.”AILA Doc. No. 18018061 - Law
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