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
Stephanie Rose Should Explain Her Role In The Postville Prosecutions
The New York Times reported yesterday that the nomination of Stephanie Rose to be the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa has fallen under criticism because of her key role in the criminal prosecution of nearly 400 undocumented Guatemalan farmers in Postville, Iowa in May 2008. http://bi
Death Number 105: Pedro Juan Tavarez
Now that health care legislation has passed the House of Representatives, all eyes are on the Senate. Will the U.S. Congress send President Obama a heath care bill he can sign? Stay tuned. But while Congress considers health care reform, including whether or not to include a “public option“, t
Watch Out For Lou Dobbs’ Next Move
By Eleanor Pelta, AILA First Vice President Late yesterday, CNN announced that Lou Dobbs was stepping down from his position as “advocacy anchor“ of the network in order to “seek a more activist role.“ CNN announced that Dobbs would now “carry his banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere.
A Special Veterans Day Blog By AILA Member Margaret Stock
On Veterans Day this year, AILA honors the service of military veterans, past and present.While honoring all veterans, the AILA leadership in particular acknowledges the contributions of those immigrants who have served in our nation's Armed Forces. We note at the outset that one of the military mem
An Open Letter To ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton
Dear Assistant Secretary Morton: Your assumption of the reins at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year has brought optimism. You seem to bring a much needed fresh perspective to the enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security.In particular your observation that since
Are YOU smarter than a Fifth Grader, Mr. Rovell?
This last weekend, for the first time since 1982, an AMERICAN won the NYC Marathon. As someone who has run several marathons and who would have been lapped by this winner, I greatly admire these fleet footed men and women. Why is this an immigration issue? Well, it turns out a commentator on CNBC by
Immigration Legislation– Piecemeal or The Whole Enchilada
I have had a number of AILA members and prospective immigrants email me recently about my blog on the waiting lines. In addition to the comments on the length of the immigrant visa delays (and possible changes to the wait times based upon newly found information), many commentators also threw in the
Get In The Line? What Line? The Tragic Tale of Employment Based Immigrant Visa Delays
I had a very upset client contact me this last week. He was angry . . . at the Visa Bulletin. He could not understand how, after the start of the new fiscal year, there was essentially no movement in the visa numbers. I tried to calm him by telling him that he just needed […]
BALCA–Just Say No
Over the course of the last year, AILA has been posting a series of BALCA decisions. These BALCA decisions routinely deny the labor certification appeal, even for minor, de minimis errors of the employer and/or counsel. An example of today's postings include the following: BALCA Affirms Denial Based
Lessons About Temporary Worker Programs and ImmigratioN Reform Gained From A Trip To Zacatecas, Mexico
By Deborah Notkin, AILA Past President Last month, I was honored to be invited to be a “judge“ at a program on migrant workers rights organized by the Centro de Derechos de Migrantes inZacatecas,Mexico.The organization is involved in seeking legal recourse for migrant workers, primarily enteri
Changing Practice Through FAQs . . . or Through Litigation?
I don't know if you noticed recently, but has DHS/DOS/DOL been “changing“ the law without actually changing the law? While this practice has been going on for a while (and some would argue that the decades of “liaison minutes“ were rule-making by meeting), recently it has has gotten out
Exit Monitoring “Daunting and Costly”? Remove the 3 and 10 Year Reentry Bars
In a front page story The New York Times reports today that the U.S. has no reliable system for verifying that foreign visitors have left the country after their visas have expired. Homeland Security officials counsel that with more than one million crossings a day, exit monitoring is a “daunting an
RFEs and the Nobel Prize
You know that things are bad in the world of RFEs, when members no longer believe that the receipt of a Nobel Prize will guarantee an EB-1 approval. One of our frequent Infonetters wrote that 3/4 of the the recent “U.S.“ Nobel Prize winners, were in fact immigrants. In response another Infonet
Getting To A “Truly Civil Detention System”
The problem with “Immigration Detention“ is that, at bottom, it requires the incarceration of immigrants for civil violations, whether or not they are dangerous criminals who would do the public harm.The point of immigration detention, so Congress has declared, is not to punish, but to ensure
Good, Let Them Die
What a horrible name for a post, but I am simply quoting the comment of DLG to an article published today by the Associated Press noting that the soaring number of deaths on the Southern Border so far this year. DLG's full quote is as follows: Good, let them die. Maybe if enough of them […]
Senator Grassley and H-1Bs–What’s the Deal?
You have to ask yourself, what is the deal with Senator Grassley and H-1B visas? Most of us have seen Senator Grassley's rather bizarre and factually inaccurate letter to Director Mayorkas, a mere two months into Director Mayorkas's term as Director of USCIS. The question we have to ask is why write
Immigration and The Media—A Public Forum, A Spirited Debate, and An Excellent Meal
Are they “illegal aliens“ or “undocumented noncitizens“?Are representatives of certain anti-immigrant groups credible media sources or racist hate mongers not to be quoted by credible print and electronic media?What is the role of responsible journalism in the public debate about our bad
RFE Hell and Increased USCIS Filing Fees
Dear Director Mayorkas: Last week in a speech you broached the subject of the possible need to increase filing fees because of a decrease in the number of applications received by USCIS this fiscal year. You also noted that there was over $100 million shortfall in your budget because of these decrea
Enough Is Enough
CNN has a journalistic obligation to dump Lou Dobbs and his campaign of hate against immigrants. It is unthinkable that a major network would permit someone to build a career based on fear and hatred of human beings.Why the double standard when it comes to immigrants? As Janet Murguia, the President
Due Process Restoration Now!
There has been a lot of talk recently about what might be included in an immigration reform bill. Will there be a legalization/amnesty/forgiveness of “lawbreakers“ rule? Will there be an expansion of employment based and family based immigrant visa numbers to solve the economically devastating
LIAR! What Does Health Care Have To Do With Immigration
During President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Congressman Joe Wilson (R. SC), shouted “LIAR!“ when President Obama stated that the proposed health care plan would not cover “illegal aliens.“ Now, Joe Wilson said he should know this because he once was an imm
9/11/2001 and U.S. Immigration
It does not seem possible that eight years could have passed since that terrible day when the U.S. was attacked. 9/11 marked many lasting changes here in the U.S., but it has forever changed how the issue of immigration is viewed. Immigration through an enforcement only lens has led to an incredible
Have you Given Your Input to DHS Yet?
Right now, the DHS is in the middle of its Quadrennial review, where, apparently all areas that DHS works on are subject to public comment and discussion. If you go to this page you can comment directly on a variety of DHS, including immigration issues. We understand that these comments are given di
America’s Shrinking Immigration Advantage
Today's guest blogger is William Stock, member of AILA's Board of Governors and partner in the law firm Klasko, Rulon, Stock & Seltzer Employers who rely on foreign nationals to provide needed expertise in their workforce - from technical programmers to biochemists to wind turbine engineers - should
Vendors to the Federal Government Face E-Verify Mandate
Today's guest blogger is Kevin Lashus, Senior Attorney with FosterQuan, LLP in its Austin, Texas office. On 8/25/09, a federal district judge for the District of Maryland denied the US Chamber of Commerce's challenge to an amendment to the Federal Appropriation Regulation-originally mandated by a Bu