AILA’s Advocacy Action Center allows you to advocate for legislative and policy reforms consistent with AILA’s principles and priorities.
Get InvolvedThe brand-new 18th edition of Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook is now shipping.
Order NowLearn how to tackle challenges like finding and retaining affordable staff, working better in a hybrid or remote environment, when and how to raise fees, and much more.
Register NowAILALink puts an entire immigration law library at your fingertips! Search the AILALink database for all your practice needs—statutes, regs, case law, agency guidance, publications, and more.
AILA Doc. No. 20051533 | Dated May 15, 2020
Washington, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) urges support for the HEROES Act. The Act, introduced in the House of Representatives, would help protect the health and safety of all communities and provide a plan for this nation to rebuild, ensuring our shared prosperity.
AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson noted, “The HEROES Act recognizes that every person, native-born and foreign-born alike, has a vital role to play in our nation’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. During this pandemic, where you come from shouldn’t matter. What matters is where you live and work, and how you contribute. Many foreign nationals, including those on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, face massive uncertainty and are at risk of losing their lawful status because of expiring visas and work requirements that may be impossible to meet during this pandemic. They need flexibility so they can work where they are needed and not fall out of legal status. Many cannot return to their home-country even if they wanted to, with countries shuttered and flights cancelled.
“The legislation also carefully addresses immigrants detained in facilities where the risk of COVID-19 spreading is extreme. To protect them and the public from the virus, immediate steps should be taken to release the most vulnerable people from detention and to ameliorate conditions in facilities. Finally, as an association comprised of 15,000 members who are mostly small business owners, AILA welcomes the urgently needed financial support that the HEROES Act will provide to small businesses and individuals who are struggling during the pandemic. The HEROES Act is a vitally important step forward in the battle we are all facing, together.”
Provisions in the HEROES Act would:
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.
Cite as AILA Doc. No. 20051533.
American Immigration Lawyers Association
1331 G Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Copyright © 1993-
American Immigration Lawyers Association.
AILA.org should not be relied upon as the exclusive source for your legal research. Nothing on AILA.org constitutes legal advice, and information on AILA.org is not a substitute for independent legal advice based on a thorough review and analysis of the facts of each individual case, and independent research based on statutory and regulatory authorities, case law, policy guidance, and for procedural issues, federal government websites.