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
What is Donald Trump’s Position on Immigration?
Why do we ask? And why particularly of Donald Trump and not Hillary Clinton? While the devil is always in the details, it is clear that Secretary Clinton has a more favorable view of immigration and has laid out a fairly clear strategy for how she would reform the current system. But the question
Taking that Final Step Toward Citizenship
Before he was president, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in? What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? What stops one branch of the U.S. government from becoming too powerful? How many amendments does the U.S. Constitution have? These four questions seem innocuous but t
Hearing Echoes from the Last Refugee Crisis Today
The United States and Europe are facing the worst refugee global migration crisis since World War II. Estimates are that there are more than 60 million refugees worldwide. Every day that we fail to step up and address this issue leaves more refugees at risk of grave and imminent danger, not only for
DACAversary
On June 15, 2012, President Obama changed many lives for the better with his historic announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. This critical and necessary action by the President went into effect on August 15, 2012 when young people were able to take the piles of
The Facts on How Immigration Works for America
This election cycle has brought about the worst immigrant bashing in decades—most of it completely unsupported by any facts. The constant barrage of blame is having an effect on many immigrant communities, and not simply the new arrivals, refugees, and unauthorized workers who are most often target
The Mandate of Optimism
Listening to the pundits and talkers on TV and radio, we're hammered with politically motivated, incomplete soundbites from people who lack awareness, at best, of the practical effects that our present immigration system engenders. It feels like we're at such a low level of discourse on the issue th
The Economics of Immigration
Discussions on immigration in the United States often consist of heated outbursts based on a multitude of passionate and unreasonable positions. Whenever the topic of immigration comes up, it seems like the most extreme rhetoric, on both sides of the issue, ends up garnering the most attention. But
A Wall of Words
For months, the rhetoric has been increasingly harsh towards immigrants as political candidates continue to lash out at refugees, the vulnerable families coming from Central America, and even entire religions. The result? Well, among other things, there has been a massive increase in the number of
Enforcement Off the Rails
There's been a lot of news coverage of the ICE raids, of the aggressive tactics used to arrest vulnerable families at their homes and to arrest children on the way to school. But what hasn't received as much coverage is the damage that raids victims endure after their arrest. Some remain trapped in
Adjusting Back to Real Life
It's been an adjustment getting back into the “real life“ of being home after being in Dilley for a month. I love my family. When I got home from volunteering at the family detention center in Dilley, the first thing I did was hug my wife and son. It wasn't just because I missed them, […
This Father’s Day
On Sunday, my kids will wake me up extra early and play “Las Mañanitas“ to wish me a Happy Father's Day while handing me handmade Father's Day cards. They'll give me extra hugs and tell me they love me. That's what's done on Father's Day in my house. It's nothing special, though it means a [&#
Ghosts in History?
May 31st marked the last day of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. To celebrate, the Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego recruited other local bar associations for some lawyerly fun - reenacting Chy Lung v. Freeman, 92 U.S. 275 (1875), otherwise known as the “22 Lewd Chinese Women“ case. The As
In Search of Consistency
Ralph Waldo Emerson famously opined that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…“ I have often opined (less famously) that, if Emerson is correct, there must be very few small-minded adjudicators at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Even in areas where U
Family Detention Takes Another Hit
I don't know about you, but some days it seems like family detention is a battle being fought on multiple fronts - the lawyerly equivalent of air, land, and sea. We have hundreds of pro bono attorneys and volunteers fighting nonstop to help families in the three facilities and helping families once
A City on the Hill: San Francisco Protects the Rights of Refugee Children and their Families
On April 27, 2016, the Mayor of San Francisco approved $1.8 million for two years to fund the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC), a unique partnership of 13 legal service providers brought together to represent children and families on the surge dockets before the San Franc
My American Dreams PBS Film Project
For four years, all across the United States, they have come to law offices like ours. They have come with tidy stacks of records from their years in the United States - vaccination cards, dog-eared school grade cards, pay stubs from high school jobs, college awards. The older ones come by themselve
Outrage
“Apurar, cielos, pretendo, Por qué me tratáis así, qué delito cometí contra vosotros naciendo. Aunque si nací, ya entiendo qué delito he cometido; bastante causa ha tenido vuestra justicia y rigor, Pues el delito mayor del hombre es haber nacido.“ ~ by Pedro Calderón de la Barca Outrage is the
Why AILA Liaison Work is Crucial Even in Contentious Times
Liaison work has long been at the heart of AILA member services. Liaison, when effective, is a critical bridge for members who are facing issues in their practices, helping to raise those issues with the various agencies to work toward a solution. However, in recent years, some have begun to questio
Fighting Roadblocks to Driver’s Licenses for Immigrants in Georgia
Until September 2015, Georgia issued driver's licenses to foreign nationals residing in the U.S. as long as they were statutorily eligible. Then, due to a “policy change,“ the Department of Driver Services (DDS) began demanding that foreign nationals show they had been lawfully admitted to the
Recognize these Mothers’ Sacrifices on Mother’s Day
From Day One of the Obama Administration's efforts to expand family detention, children have been the hardest hit. In Artesia, Berks, Dilley, and Karnes, these vulnerable asylum seekers are the ones who suffer the most when fleeing danger and coming to the U.S. seeking lawful protection for their sa
Anything I Can Do, You Can Do Better… in Dilley!
Sunday is Mother's Day in the U.S. and having just met some of the most incredible mothers I have ever encountered, I wanted to share that experience. In Dilley, TX, I met countless mothers who risked their lives to come to the U.S. for their children. Not for economic reasons, not for “a better li
Are You Considering Canada?
As the American presidential election nears, some of us in Canada have been asked by media and other interested parties what the real options are if someone wanted to head north. ABC News reported in March that Google searches for “how to move to Canada“ surged as high as 1,150%. We thought we
What Happened Yesterday
It was early Monday morning in Los Angeles and all along the West Coast of the United States, people were just waking up. Cars were jamming the freeways, lines were forming at coffee shops and TVs were tuned to the morning news. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the five men and three women who current
The End Nears for this Politically Charged Game of Chess
On Monday, April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the controversial case, United States v. Texas, to determine the fate of more than 3 million undocumented individuals. The lawsuit, filed by Texas and 25 other states shortly after the administration announced the expansion of D
The H-1B Visa Program: The Dial-up Connection to the High-speed Wireless World
There are far too many moments when the dysfunction of our outdated immigration system becomes crystal clear. One of those moments occurred this week when U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had received a record number of H-1B visa petitions during the five-day fili