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
Offering the Community Your Expertise Post-Election
There is fear in our communities. In the days following the presidential election, I heard from a lot of people who want to help, but aren't sure exactly how. Though there are many ways to get involved, I want to offer an example of how a fellow AILA member and I volunteered a couple of […]
Rage Against the Extreme
Remember the days when reasonable people could sit down and rationally discuss opposing views on immigration policy or other issues? The dividing line tended to fall along things like, “How workable is E-verify?“ or “What is a crime involving moral turpitude?“ or “What is a reasonable wa
The World is Watching
By now, it is no longer a surprise to learn that many immigration lawyers, and the clients they serve, live in certain “hostile jurisdictions,“ where it is almost impossible to win an asylum case no matter the facts. In places like Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, people seekin
Where Does Family Detention Stand Now?
During the contentious presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton's immigration platform included a promise to end the detention of immigrant families, while President-elect Donald Trump has never specifically addressed the issue of family detention at all. Instead, Trump's website broadly states that a
Avoiding a Practice-Attack
Solo practitioners and small law offices know that understanding the law and knowing where to find the law is only 50% of practice. The lawyer must also be the marketer, the paralegal, the accountant, the auditor, and the customer service representative, all of which involve skills that are not tau
The American People Have Elected the 45th President
We, the American people, have elected our 45th president. Today, as we all go on with our daily routines, a new era is beginning. Today we must search deep within and find a renewed commitment to our nation, to unity, and to the belief in the wisdom of our founding fathers who established our nation
American Parents Overseas Should be Treated Equally
The Supreme Court on November 9, 2016, will hear arguments in Lynch v. Morales-Santana, a case in which AILA submitted an Amicus Brief, along with the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. The case, which will address and better define how citizenship pass
Don’t Cry, Mommy
After going through security, placing my phone in the locker outside the facility, and relinquishing my driver's license in exchange for a one-day entry badge, I entered the trailer excited and anxious. As a business immigration attorney, though I was outside my comfort zone, I was ready for a new a
Profiting Off Trauma
Last year, I spent a week as a volunteer attorney with the CARA Project at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, which is run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Although the government calls it a “residential center,“ it is, of course, a prison that detains
When Will They Listen?
Family detention is wrong. The mass incarceration and detention of asylum seekers is wrong. The detention of immigrants who are not flight risks and pose no danger to community or national safety is wrong. It's not just me saying it, or just AILA saying it, or even churches, community groups, NGOs,
California’s TRUTH Act – Due Process for Immigrants Held in Local Jails
On September 28, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the TRUTH Act which protects immigrant communities against harsh immigration enforcement practices. With this law, California becomes the first state to require immigrants be told of their right to an attorney before being inter
Hostile Jurisdictions
U.S. immigration lawyers, members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), practice in every state in the union and other countries besides. We fight for clients no matter where they are, to the best of our abilities. However, we are currently wrestling with an elephant of a problem -
Shining a Light on Domestic Violence to Assist Immigrant Victims
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is intended to shine a light on the human right to be free from violence, ensure that all victims of domestic violence know they are not alone, and foster supportive communities that help survivors seek justice. In the United States, twenty people
Jimenez Moreno v. Napolitano: Immigration Detainers Require a Warrant
The interior enforcement agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), employs various ways to co-opt state and local law enforcement to help it enforce the immigration laws. One of those tools, an immigration detainer, asks local law enforcement to
How Do You Manage the Risks of EB-5 Practice?
Do you remember your Risk Management class in law school? Neither do I. It's not offered. Yet as lawyers, we have to manage risk every day. True, rarely do we reflect “I'm doing a good job managing my risks today.“ We just do it. But taking time to understand risks and risk management can make
Building a Force of Zealous, Creative Refugee and Asylum Advocates
According to UNHCR's 2015 Global Trends Report, one out of every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum due to wars, conflict, and persecution that are not ending, but being met with impunity by governments and the international community. No surprise then that
No More Diapers in Detention
The beginning of a young lawyer's career is, naturally, a time of many first experiences. Many of these “firsts“ are so nerve-wracking they churn your stomach: the first time you step into court with the weight of someone's future on your shoulders, the first time you stand up next to a client
Baby Steps Toward Transparency
Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) took another small step toward transparency - issuing a Request for Quote (RFQ) for 108 body-worn cameras and 12 vehicle-mounted cameras. It probably seems strange to get even a little bit excited about the announcement of a bureaucratic process, b
Opening Minds and Hearts in the Immigration Debate
There are very few issues facing our country today that are more polarizing than immigration. From the White House to your parents' house, Wall Street to Main Street, the classroom to the dining room, discussions about immigration have sharply divided parties—and touched a collective nerve. The curr
Arizona: A Lesson in Tolerance
Arizona…you never learn, do you? In 1987, I was living in Tucson. I was in 7th grade and the state of Arizona provided me with a crash course in racism, the civil rights movement and very poor decision-making. Former Governor Evan Mecham infamously rescinded an executive order by his predecess
Solicitor General Apologizes to the Supreme Court, Again
The moral of this blog post is two-fold. First, stranger things have happened, and second, do not believe everything someone tells you because just saying it does not make it so. On August 26, 2016, Acting Solicitor General Ian Heath Gershengorn penned a letter to the Honorable Clerk of the Supreme
Why Is Texas Making the Roads Less Safe?
We all want to feel safer. There are dozens of regulations in place to increase our safety on a day-to-day basis. We require people to have health insurance, car insurance, to buckle their seatbelts, strap children into car seats, keep job sites safe, make sure food is labeled clearly, restrict pre
When Pictures Are Worth More than a Thousand Words
I had heard stories about Border Patrol's mistreatment of immigrants. When I volunteered in Artesia, New Mexico, and Dilley, Texas, the mothers and children there told me what a horrible experience they'd had in Border Patrol custody. Over the years, I'd become familiar with the term hieleras, or ic
Avoiding Potential Pitfalls in the Global Immigration Context
Immigration lawyers regularly see the damage “notarios“ can inflict on innocent clients who don't realize they are not dealing with a qualified lawyer or don't understand why it's important to use a lawyer competent in immigration law. Many of us have worked hard to educate the public on the d
Bring Hope Back to Berks
History is full of places designed to hide people. People like Alexandre Dumas' Man in the Iron Mask, imprisoned on an island in the Mediterranean with his identity concealed. Refugees subject to inhumane treatment by the Australian government on the island of Nauru. And, in the United States, for