AILA Announces New Author for Premier Asylum Resource

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 17, 2014

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) announced today that Dree K. Collopy, Partner, Benach Ragland, has signed on to author the 7th edition of AILA's Asylum Primer. The Primer is the "go-to" asylum resource and the 7th edition and the 7th edition will be released in mid-2015.

AILA's Asylum Primer provides practical, interpretive guidance on the entire asylum process. Intended for everyone from attorneys to government officials, from law professors to law students, from nonprofit organizations to asylum-seekers themselves, the Asylum Primer provides answers to help navigate through the asylum process-from the first meeting to the close of the case.

Ms. Collopy comes to this endeavor with an abundance of knowledge and skills gained from her experience advocating before the U.S. immigration courts, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. district courts, U.S. circuit courts of appeals, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. consulates abroad.

A recognized immigration law expert, particularly in the sub-specialty of asylum law and practice, Ms. Collopy was a natural choice to author the Asylum Primer. Her expertise in asylum also has been informed by her two years of service as chair of the AILA National Asylum and Refugee Liaison Committee, through which she has built relationships and worked cooperatively with government officials to maintain the integrity of the U.S. immigration system, ensure that laws are implemented with accuracy and fairness, and secure justice and equality for noncitizens. In this capacity, Ms. Collopy has gained an acute knowledge and unique perspective of the complicated legal issues and the procedural and systemic hurdles facing asylum-seekers and their representatives today.

Ms. Collopy is already a respected author and lecturer on many immigration issues and has contributed to numerous AILA publications in the past. She designed the Immigration Litigation Clinic at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, where she teaches and supervises law students in representing indigent clients before the Baltimore and Arlington Immigration Courts. Ms. Collopy "walks the walk," serving the disadvantaged through personal pro bono work as well as serving in a leadership capacity on local and national pro bono committees and projects.

Prior to joining Benach Ragland as a partner, Ms. Collopy worked for several years as a senior attorney and attorney at Maggio + Kattar. She earned a Juris Doctor and Certificate in Law and Public Policy at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish at Grinnell College.

This release has been updated to reflect a new estimated publication date

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.