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
USCIS: You Can Help the Economy
Ten Americans kept their jobs today in spite of USCIS, which seemed intent on ensuring that those jobs go overseas or just go away. What happened? USCIS had refused to extend the L-1 status of a multinational manager, who had opened a new office and employed ten U.S. workers, finding that a small co
Lessons Learned from the Fifth Hispanic Market Forum 2010
By Deborah Notkin, AILA Past President On Thursday, Dec. 2, I served as the moderator of a panel in a program in New York sponsored by the U.S. Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Chapter in association with the Colombian American Association, Ecuadorean American Association, Peruvian-American As
Black Friday is for DREAMers!
Guest blog by Mo Goldman, AILA Board of Governors Black Friday is for DREAMers! What is the universal color for hope? Is it white? Is it green? Is it black? Perhaps, like our draconian immigration laws, the color of hope is just different shades of grey. No matter what color you associate with
The MSNBC Town Hall Meeting on Immigration – Need for clarity
By Deborah Notkin, AILA Past President This Monday, MSNBC aired a Town Hall Meeting on Immigration which took place in San Diego. All the panel participants with the exception of Michael Cutler, a fellow at CIS (Center for Immigration Studies) were generally positive about the contributions made by
AILA’s Media Tour (or David and Eleanor’s Big Adventure)
Wouldn't it be great if the networks spiced up the immigration debate with folks who actually knew something about immigration? For example a lawyer who has represented US companies that sponsor critical scientists and professionals. Or an attorney who fights for families threatened with deportati
The Next Goal–Eviscerating the 14th Amendment
Guest blog by Charles Kuck, AILA Past President The next goal of the anti-immigration crowd is to eliminate what some call “birthright“ citizenship. This is a derogatory way of saying the following: If you are born in the United States, you are a citizen by right of birth in the United States.
Sacrifice
It is always deeply sad to learn of the death of a man or woman serving in the military. Just by being in the war, they are sacrificing home, family, and much else to serve this nation. But today it hits deep in the AILA community, as we learn of the death in Afghanistan of […]
The Morning After
I hope the country got it right last night. Not because I agree with the Republicans on the issues, but because I hope the mid-term elections bring some good to our nation. But I fear that all we will get is continued gridlock and political posturing in preparation for 2012. We can all agree to [&#
Buyers Beware – Non-federal Immigration Laws are Inherently Defective
Guest blog by Anthony Weigel, Chair of AILA's Missouri/Kansas Chapter As each new holiday season approaches, parents of younger children are challenged to find the perfect gift. The Zhu Zhu pets were all the rage in 2009, but Squinkies are reportedly this year's “must-have - but impossible to get
Finding A Way To “Yes”
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is not happy. He wasn't always that way. In fact, if you look at his website you'll see that not long ago he was smiling at his constituents back in Iowa. Why is he so mad? Well, I think it started last summer when he got his hands on an unsigned […]
Big Brother is “Friending” You
Someone once told me that you should never post anything online you don't want to read on the front page of the newspaper. As an employer I often peruse facebook, myspace and other social networking sites when evaluating job applicants. The sites sometimes offer a candid glimpse into a prospective
Amnesty for Lou Dobbs?
How dysfunctional is the US immigration system? It is so dysfunctional that even Lou Dobbs, a man who has built his brand spewing hate speech at immigrants, can't even follow it. Last week The Nation labeled Dobbs an “American Hypocrite“ for hiring unauthorized immigrant workers, But with his
Touting the Record
by Victor Nieblas Pradis, AILA Secretary Yesterday, the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano and the director of ICE, John Morton proudly announced they had broken a record—in fiscal year 2010, the Obama Administration deported 392,000 immigrants. That's good news for those who claim Ob
DHS: It’s Time to Act
“Representative [Lamar] Smith … called for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to exercise prosecutorial discretion in hardship cases. That is, immigration officials would simply decline to proceed with a deportation case… Second, Mr. Smith proposed that the attorney general use a
Dreams of DREAM
The United States of America is the result of an audacious dream. At a time when kings and queens were the norm a group of radicals dreamed of a place where the will of the people would govern; a radical and dangerous concept at the time. And ever since, dreaming has defined our political and [̷
Note to USCIS: Small can be Good!
Yesterday, the Senate approved a multi-billion dollar package of tax breaks and government-backed loans to aid small businesses. It was a victory for the Obama Administration. As Senator Barbara Boxer stated, “Small businesses are the major job creators in our economy, and this legislation will ensu
Counting The Silverware
Nobody likes to pay for legal advice. But it's a double whammy when you end up paying for really bad legal advice. Just ask the good citizens of Hazelton, Pennsylvania whose pockets have been emptied to the tune of $2,400,000 in legal bills run up by Kris Kobach, a fringe anti-immigrant restriction
Investing in America
One of the strongest arguments in favor of comprehensive immigration reform is that it will make America more prosperous and competitive. All credible studies show that an immigration system which meets the needs of businesses and US workers will add trillions to the economy, raise wages, and put A
Crying Wolf
On August 20 John Morton, head of ICE, issued a memorandum to the agency about how to handle deportation cases involving foreign nationals who are also legally eligible to apply for green cards. The policy has the anti-immigrant restrictionists and their friends on Capitol Hill in a tizzy and howli
Fernando’s Hideaway
By Crystal Williams and David Leopold Washington reminds us of Fernando Lamas, the Saturday Night Live character played by Billy Crystal who would interview various celebrities, often confusing them with someone else. Always during the interview he would say, “You look mahvelous“ and the sket
10 Reasons Amending the Constitution to End Birthright Citizenship Is a Terrible Idea
guest blogger Greg Siskind, AILA Board of Governors One of the greatest accomplishments of the Republican Party was actually one of its earliest. After winning the Civil War and freeing the slaves, the Grand Old Party worked to pass the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the bedrock of civil rights
Where the 1986 Amnesty Went Wrong – Fixing the Symptoms But Not the Problem
Guest Blog by Deborah Notkin, AILA Past President I am getting increasingly impatient with restrictionists and xenophobes opposing a badly needed legalization program by knocking the 1986 Amnesty Program. The problem with the '86 Amnesty was not that it encouraged future illegal entries to the U.S.
Who Doesn’t Have Cojones?
She's going to do all that she can to continue down the litigation path to allow secure borders…Jan Brewer has the “cojones“ that our president does not have to look out for Americans, not just Arizonans, but all Americans, in this desire of ours to secure our borders and allow legal im
Oh Come On Now!
I'll admit it. It's summer and I'm cranky. But, come on people. Not another outbreak of hypocrisy on immigration! We've watched while agency officials pulled apart the law to find ways to make illegal the status of people here legally or struggling to attain legal status. Making Muslim men register,
Will Somebody Please Hand That Man A Napkin?
The Arizona court ruling enjoining parts of Arizona's S.B. 1070 is a major victory for all who respect and cherish the rule of law. True, Judge Bolton did not halt the entire law. But what she did do—enjoin S.B. 1070's most dangerous and damaging provisions—was astonishing. Federal courts do not