Blog: Think Immigration
We believe that immigration law is an integral part of America’s past, present and future. We also know that immigration law is complicated. Here you’ll find experts writing in an accessible way about immigration issues, from big, broad ideas down to specific cases. Our members bring knowledge they’ve gleaned from the daily practice of immigration law to this space and offer their expertise to readers.
Browse the Blog: Think Immigration collection
Ban the Burnout
In this blog post, Reid Trautz, director of AILA's Practice and Professionalism Center, highlights some key ways to reduce the risk of burnout in an incredibly busy “new normal“ that immigration attorneys and their firms are facing.
Finding Heroes
AILA Media Advocacy Committee Member Mo Goldman highlights the recent lawsuit by WA AG Ferguson against Motel 6 for violating state consumer protection laws by sharing guest data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when ICE had no warrant to gather the information.
From DC to Dilley – One Volunteer’s Firsthand Experience
In this blog post, Immigration Justice Campaign Director Karen Lucas interviews recent family detention volunteer McKayla Eskilson about her experience, the work the project is doing, and the impact she had during her week at Dilley helping asylum seeking moms and kids incarcerated in the facility.
Top 10 AILA Videos and Blog Posts of 2017
A quick recap of the most viewed videos and most read blog posts this year, covering a variety of topics from H-1Bs to MAVNI to the latest travel ban updates and more. There is truly something for everyone; take a look at these resources as you reflect on 2017.
Story of a Dreamer Sparks Generosity
AILA Secretary Jeremy McKinney writes about how sharing client stories with the press and public can make a difference and highlights one recent example when a profile of a Dreamer unexpectedly sparked the generosity of a donor.
Living Courage
AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson reflects on 2017, highlighting the courage of Dreamers and the work of AILA members as inspirations for 2018 when he'll “be looking to all of you to be fearless, steadfast, and courageous. Because next year and every year, #AILAStandsWithImmigrants.“
Helping Daisy
AILA member Rebecca Minahan shares how she helped one young family at the Dilley detention facility through the credible fear process, writing that while she “would most likely never learn of their fate,“ she “felt honored to have been a part of their lives if only for a very short time.“
Combatting a War on the Christmas Spirit
The holidays are here, which supposedly make up the most wonderful time of the year. This year, the president has thrown in with Christmas in a big way, claiming that he has brought Christmas back and it's “bigger and better than ever.“ I'm not sure it was missing necessarily, but an emphasis
Lawyering in an Ever-Changing Landscape
With the Trump administration making clear that it is taking aim at immigration and immigrants, and the lawyers that help them access due process, we practitioners find ourselves in a period of great uncertainty. We are facing an administration that is making changes to the way that immigration law
Hardline Immigration Policies Keep Running into Legal Trouble
On November 20, 2017, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, issued a nationwide permanent injunction blocking the federal government's attempt to strip so-called “sanctuary cities“ of federal funding. Judge William Orrick ruled the executive order unconstitu
Momentum Builds Among Republicans for Dreamer Fix Before the Holidays
Dreamers are emblematic of America's promise and our future. Yet as each day passes, they become more vulnerable to deportation. They have been fighting to protect their future for a long time, and with renewed urgency since the administration pulled the DACA rug out from under them. But they aren't
High-Skilled Immigration in a Time of High Uncertainty
For decades, business immigration law, and high-skilled business immigration in particular, was something of a transactional practice. There was little debate that our country benefits when American employers have access to the world's best and brightest talent, and while there were difficult cases
When Law Professors Attack: Four False Assumptions in the WSJ Op-Ed
Apparently, it is now fashionable to blame immigration lawyers for the ills of the U.S. immigration system. It started in October when Attorney General Jeff Sessions, railed against the “dirty immigration lawyers,“ baselessly charging that they are exploiting loopholes (also known as “the law&
Two Business Immigration Lawyers in “Baby Jail”: A Report from Dilley
“I can barely handle being a prisoner here….“
Gratitude for America and the Hands that Built it
Thinking back on Thanksgiving from when I was a child, I remember being told by my parents and teachers to be grateful for what I had, including living in the United States. But as a kid, the meaning of “how lucky I was to live in the U.S.“ wasn't easy to comprehend. Of course, I […]
Sounding the Alarm on State Department Staffing
The president of the American Foreign Service Association, Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, has sounded the alarm over what she describes as an effort by the Trump administration to weaken the Department of State (DOS) by slashing staffing, leaving senior management positions unfilled, and freezing hi
Getting Through the Reinstatement Maze
It often seems like the deck is stacked against our clients, particularly when the government uses tools like reinstatement of removal that are complex to defend against. Reinstatement sounds simple, but in practice the government can mistakenly apply it or fail to ensure safeguards are taken to pr
Staying in the Know about EB-5
Yesterday, I consulted with an AILA attorney about whether there are legal ways to transfer money out of a small Asian country that has strict currency transfer restrictions. The day before, a securities lawyer called me to discuss job creation problems in an ongoing EB-5 project. Last week, I email
Stand Up and Be an Advocate: Your Talent and Expertise Can Effect Meaningful Change
Immigration attorneys stand up for immigrants every day. But, our talent and expertise is typically channeled into advocating for our clients before the federal administrative agencies or immigration courts. To serve our clients well, we focus on understanding the latest developments in United State
On Immigration, It’s Time to Start Listening to Each Other
When it comes to civil dialogue, we are living in a low moment in our nation's history. Honest debates that yield real solutions to our common problems seem like a quaint notion—and that disturbs me. As the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, an organization of 15,000
Rhetoric Versus Reality on Employment-Based Immigration
The Trump administration recently released extensive data about the H-1B program, including the names of H-1B employers, and so I was curious how this data has been used and interpreted, and also whether we can glean something about the motivations for the data dump. I didn't need to look far. The a
IJ Performance Quotas: A Threat to Due Process and Judicial Independence
On October 12, 2017, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration seeks to impose numeric quotas on immigration judges as part of their performance evaluations. Speeding up deportation proceedings without regard to the impact on due process and judicial independence is an affront to th
Defending the Practice of Immigration Law in an Age of Falsehoods
In his October 12th remarks to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), Attorney General Jeff Sessions lamented the fact that those with a credible claim for asylum have in recent years more frequently exercised the rights and protections provided to them under the Immigration and Nationa
A Fighting Chance to Claim Asylum
Earlier this year, a young man called James* fled his country of origin after enduring yet another attack on his life, this time at the hands of his family members who learned he was gay. They also reported James to the police, who began searching for him because, under a law outlawing homosexuality
Temporary Protected Status for Sudanese Ending – Dust Off Those Case Files
Last month the administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan, effective November 2, 2018. The September 18 announcement stated that Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke had “determined that conditions in Sudan no longer support its designation,&#