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
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 3
After several trips to Karnes, I got to know one client's case fairly well. It was and continues to be an education. I'll refer to the client as E-H-. E-H-‘s case is “withholding only,“ which as I learned means that she's not eligible to apply for asylum because of a prior removal. That rem
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 2
On to Karnes With only the Artesia episode as a guide, I arrived in San Antonio this past January 11th, once again not really knowing what to expect. The two experiences were very different. Whereas in Artesia the volunteers worked 16 to 18 hours every day, including weekends, to serve a detainee
Why AILA Needs to Reincorporate, and Why Your Vote Counts
On Friday April 17, 2015, AILA will hold a special members meeting in Washington D.C. where members can discuss the proposed move from New York to D.C., and vote on these resolutions either by direct vote at the meeting, or by proxy. Receipt of electronic proxies closes on Friday, April 17, at noo
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 1
Family detention. Artesia. Karnes / Dilley. A year ago these were mere words. Sadly, that's no longer the case. All of us volunteers have seen the families incarcerated at these facilities and we refuse to give up on them as our government seems to want us to do. I wanted to share some of that ex
“Today, I’m Leaving Here.”
My client's 8-year-old daughter told me that, as she hugged me goodbye and left for school, so that I could prepare her mom for their individual hearing on March 31, 2015. One week later, after being detained approximately 9 months (since July 5, 2014) - first in Artesia, New Mexico, and then in Kar
“I’m afraid to ask them for any medicine.”
I asked Guadalupe* what she meant by that - she had been on medication for anxiety and depression in her home country of Mexico. She was afraid to tell the medical staff when she got to the South Texas Family Detention Center that she took medication, because she thought it would make her look weak
An Impossible Amount, an Impossible Burden
As a volunteer attorney at the Dilley, Texas, family detention center, I've seen many children and their mothers come to me for help, seeking a way to gain asylum in the U.S. and finally have a safe place to raise their children, free from fear. One such example is an indigenous woman from Guatemala
A Silent Crisis: Children Experiencing Trauma in Family Detention
During my week as a volunteer attorney in San Antonio, I visited with a mother and child at the Karnes family detention center who had been transferred from the Artesia detention center when it closed. The mother and her young son had already been detained for seven months, and I was helping to pr
A Promise Unfulfilled
Last November, President Obama promised reforms to immigration enforcement that focus on actual threats to public safety while keeping immigrant families together. He evoked a more humane enforcement system where resources are not spent jailing vulnerable individuals. One of his November reforms ex
How One Life Was Changed at NDA
National Day of Action (what used to be called “Lobby Day“) is an AILA tradition that goes back a number of years. I've participated many times, and each time it is different. Each time I come out heartened by some Congressional visits, disheartened by others, but always feeling a part of some
Could Negotiated Rulemaking Save H-2B?
Businesses that rely on seasonal, nonagricultural labor have had a hard time recruiting US workers as the economy has improved and overall unemployment and underemployment have fallen. These businesses — from seafood producers in Louisiana, Alaska and Maryland to resorts in Colorado and Maine to lan
Can a Surge Protector Generate a Spark?
My three Case Western Reserve University School of Law students and I are part of an Ohio and New York volunteer legal team at Dilley, Texas (see photo). I had been to Artesia, and volunteered there, but while there are similarities between the two facilities, there are also differences. The biggest
Hope and Disappointment in Dilley
I spent last week at the detention center in Dilley, Texas, volunteering to help mothers and children detained there. Having previously experienced the harsh conditions at the facility in Artesia, I was immediately struck by the visible differences here in Dilley. Any former Artesia volunteer will d
From Leave It to Beaver to Modern Family
The days when one spouse remained at home and the other went to work aren't the norm any longer in our society. Although there may still be some households where only one spouse works outside the home, in many cases having two working spouses is one of the requirements of the economic and societal
It’s Our Security, Stupid
I find myself in the unusual position today of agreeing with Rep. Peter King (R-NY) in his NY Daily News Op-Ed Wednesday (Guest column: Brooklyn terror suspects show it's insane to not approve money for Homeland Security ) where he argues that security of the United States is too important and that
The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Or (Thank You Sean Penn for Starting the Immigration Discussion at the Oscars) I love film. I love the Oscars. To me, the Oscars, unlike the other award shows, represent the best of all aspects of the highly competitive, brilliant, and inspiring film industry. As an immigration lawyer with an art
One Week, Two Injunctions
What a week. Last week began with a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing President Obama from implementing his executive action plan to protect millions of immigrant families from deportation. The week ended with a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing the Obama administration from
Traitor? Not So Much.
I was called a traitor, twice, in less than an hour today. It's not the first time in my role as AILA's Executive Director that I've been called that, but it still offends. The fallacies about immigrants, about the undocumented, about our borders and our government's actions continue to linger. This
In Defense of Consular Officers
For over 25 years, I have been living and working abroad helping noncitizens secure family, work and other types of visas to the United States. As a specialist in consular law and procedure, I've had the honor and the privilege to deal with American consular officers at posts around the world, and
Politicizing Established Principles of Prosecutorial Discretion Without Offering Real Solutions
Judge Andrew Hanen's ruling this week issuing a temporary injunction to the expanded DACA and new DAPA programs announced as part of the President's concrete steps to alleviate our current dysfunctional immigration system is nothing more than a political kneejerk reaction to the Administration's eff
Who Will Carry the Torch?
Even now, over seven months since my first tour of duty in Artesia, I still get chills just thinking about it. I am not sure I have really taken the time to process everything I experienced. I am not sure I want to. Last Wednesday morning I got a text message from Christina Brown. She […]
Big Data, Bad Data: Resolving the Tyranny of the Database
This term, the Supreme Court is considering a case that implicates the doctrine of “consular non-reviewability“-the legal principle that generally, courts in the United States will not review the discretionary decisions of American consular officers if they deny visa applications overseas. The
The Weight of 216 days
216 days. That is how long Sofía and her daughter Isabel* had to wait for a chance at release from family detention at the southern border. After over seven months of confinement at two different facilities, they will finally be reunited with their family lawfully residing in the United States. The
Bad Choices
Last week, my state's attorney general, Adam Laxalt, did something that is wrong for my community, my state, and my country. He signed Nevada to the lawsuit against President Obama's executive action to defer deportation for potentially millions of long-time residents. I've been here in Nevada for d
Ending Artesia
Artesia changed me. It changed me as a lawyer and it changed how I interact with people. I know that it changed all the volunteers, it changed the officials who worked there, and more than anyone, it changed the children and mothers who were held there, sometimes for months on end, in fear. For thos