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
The Trouble with Caps and Limits
Monday, June 11th was the last day US Citizenship and Immigration Service was accepting new H-1B cases subject to annual numerical caps. For the first time in years, the H-1B quotas of 65,000 for professional workers , and 20,000 for professional workers with U.S. advanced degrees, dried up in less
Renewing the Call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
On June 15, 2012, President Obama took a bold step by supporting DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's memo offering deferred action to certain young undocumented immigrants who have been victims of congressional politicking. The President's action will enable over 800,000 individuals to come out of the
Arizona’s Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship
On Monday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer declared “victory“ in the Supreme Court's ruling on Arizona v. United States. This revelation came in spite of the fact that the Court held 5-3 to strike down three of the four key provisions in Arizona's SB 1070 law. Brewer still rejoiced as the Court un
Supreme Court Deals a Major Blow to Arizona’s Immigration Law
Originally published on Huffington Post Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and the nativists who wrote Arizona's SB 1070 are putting the best public spin they can on today's Supreme Court decision but they're undoubtedly licking their wounds in private. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a loud and clear voice, bl
Presidential Election focus: Immigration or the Economy – Is there a difference?
The Administration's announcement last week that it would not deport DREAM Act eligible youth once again catapulted immigration to the forefront of the presidential race as both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney seek to win the Latino vote. Both candidates recently addressed Latino el
Obama’s DREAMER Initiative Is Smart Immigration Enforcement
On Friday June 15, 2012, the Obama administration announced that it will halt the deportation of young immigrants who were brought to the country as minors and meet other specific requirements. The action is an affirmative and bold response to the broken immigration system and temporarily eliminates
The House Votes Against Common Sense and Family Unity
Originally published by Huffington Post Evil does its bidding in the dead of night. Maybe that explains what happened Thursday when the House passed H.R. 5855, the fiscal year 2013 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, on a vote of 234-182. The bill included a laundry list of immigration-related ame
Marco Rubio’s Immigration Pivot: A Search for Solutions or Politics as Usual?
Originally published by Huffington Post Recently Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said something that went largely unnoticed by the media but could foreshadow a seismic shift in the immigration debate. Speaking with reporters after his keynote speech to the Latino Coalition Annual Economic Summit, the f
AILA Film Fest Spotlight – The Other Side of Immigration
Written by: Roy Germano, PhD, “The Other Side of Immigration“ Director Roy Germano blogs about immigration issues at www.roygermano.com. The film is widely available for purchase on Amazon, Netflix, iTunes and many other sites. I am of Irish and Italian ancestry, born and raised in a primaril
Senator Grassley: Out of Touch with Economic Realities
Against a backdrop of recent press reports detailing the beating that the U.S. is taking in the international battle for brains and foreign investment, and calling for improvements to our laws governing high skilled immigration, along comes another letter of concern from Senator Grassley, this time
The Perfect Storm to Repeal DOMA
Written by: Ally Bolour, AILA Media-Advocacy Committee The last decade has brought unprecedented advancement in LGBT equality worldwide. Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Spain, and South Africa are among the countries that now recognize LGBT equality, including the right to marry. In the United States, e
AILA Film Fest Spotlight – Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth
Written by: Anne Galisky, “Papers“ Director It is an honor for all of us who have worked together to produce and distribute “Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth“ that our film will be included in the first annual AILA Film Festival. Hundreds of people helped make the film a reality, ma
Change? Yikes!
“If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going.“-Professor Irwin Corey We've been hearing about it for a while now. We at first thought, oh no, what if it happens? Will everything change? Will I have to learn a new system? What among my assumptions will have to be thrown o
The Startup Act 2.0 Offers Immigration Solutions That Will Create American Jobs
Originally published on Huffington Post What do Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) have in common? Not much when it comes to their voting records. But today these Republican and Democratic Senators did something we haven't seen in long
Top 10 Ways to Make the Immigrant Investor Program Work
Written by Eleanor Pelta, AILA President, and H. Ronald Klasko, AILA Past President The regional center EB-5, or Immigrant Investor, program enables businesses and real estate developers seeking capital to apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become approved to accept investments f
The House Declares War On The Most Vulnerable Women Among Us
Originally published on Huffington Post Every day the news is replete with stories showing the immigration system is badly broken. Amid the dysfunction — the approximately 12 million unauthorized aliens living in the shadows; the scores of American families torn apart by deportation; and the inabili
Washington, DC Leaders – Stop Talking and Please Do Something
Written by Tony Weigel, AILA Media-Advocacy Committee After serving for nearly two years on AILA's Media-Advocacy Committee, I have closely followed a number of immigration policy issues. There are clearly some issues that spark more controversy than others, but many wholeheartedly agree that our po
DHS Releases Long-Awaited Memo on Controversial 9/11 Program
By Denyse Sabagh, AILA Past President, and Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, AILA Amicus Committee NSEERS (National Security Entry and Exit Registration System) was a controversial tracking program launched in the wake of 9/11 and aimed at visitors from predominantly Arab and Muslim countries. Those subject
All is Quieter on the Crazy Front
By: Mo Goldman, AILA Media-Advocacy Committee and Jerry Burns, Arizona Chapter Chair April 24, 2010: Governor Jan Brewer signed the controversial SB 1070 bill into law thus securing her re-election. Russell Pearce was the lead sponsor of the bill and a leader in the Arizona State Senate. Andrew Th
AILA Film Fest Spotlight – Tony & Janina’s American Wedding
Written by: Ruth Leitman (Director) and Steve Dixon (Producer) What a difference a year can make! When we attended the AILA convention 2011 in San Diego, we were in the thick of screening Tony & Janina's American Wedding across the country, asking viewers of the film to visit our website (http://to
Jumping Over Facts to Conclusions
Sometimes you read an article and think “something doesn't quite follow here.“ An April 7, 2012 article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram titled “Fort Worth engineer who got Obama's attention still doesn't have a job“ is one such article. The article lays out a tale with which one can rea
Passover In The First Person
A version of this blog was originally posted on April 19, 2011 and on the Huffington Post This week Jews all over the world celebrate Passover. Extended families, friends and strangers gather together and relive the story of the Exodus from the bondage of the Pharaohs of Egypt. It is a holiday of fr
Alabama’s Nuremberg Playbook
Written by: G. Vernon Leopold Eighty years ago I was a child in Germany, where my family had lived for generations. My father, a decorated officer of the German Air Force, who had proudly served his country in World War I, could never have imagined that in just a few years he would be singularly [&
The Fable of the Crow and the Pitcher: Why Every AILA member should attend the National Day of Action in an election year
Written by: Jeff Joseph, AILA Board of Governors Anyone listening to the Republican primary debates would assume that immigration is at the forefront of the national consciousness and that immigration has become a defining issue in this election cycle. Given the heat and rhetoric surrounding the imm
March Sadness
Originally posted on Huffington Post “Where's your Green Card! Where's your Green Card! Where's your Green Card!…“ That was the despicable taunt that met Kansas State point guard Angel Rodriguez during the first-round NCAA tournament game between Kansas State University and the Universit