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
Senator Kennedy–An Immigration Hero
Much will be said about Senator Kennedy's passing over the next few days. My own personal experiences with the Senator were limited, but were nonetheless emblematic of what Senator Kennedy was to many-an Immigration Hero. My last opportunity to be with Senator Kennedy happened about 4 years ago, whe
Immigration Reform Would Boost US Economy
The Center for Trade Policy Studies issued a report which claims that an immigration reform program which included a legalization would save literally billions of dollars over the current policy of enforcement only. In Restriction or Legalization? Measuring the Economic Benefits of Immigration Refor
The Healthcare “Debate” and Immigration Reform
Unless you have had your head buried in the sand for the last thirty days, you are aware that America is having a national “Debate“ on healthcare reform. That is if you call a “debate“ yelling at each other, accusing the other side of the “debate“ of being a Nazi, a socialist, a bi
USCIS–H-1B Investigations Run Amok!
As many of our members know, the USCIS is like a Jekyll and Hyde creation. With one face, USCIS happily grants benefits, issues approvals, and welcomes people as citizens. With the other face UCSIS distrusts everyone, believes there is a lie on every application, and looks for ways to disqualify cle
This Is Not Immigration Reform
David W. Leopold President-Elect, AILA Unfortunately Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano seems more intent on continuing to target undocumented workers—the victims of a broken immigration system—rather than the bad-actor employers who attract them to the U.S. and then exploit them through l
State Legislatures–We need to pay attention
Today's report from the National Council for State Legislatures on the 2009 legislation related to immigration provides a stark view into the minds of local politicos on the issue of immigration: While national attention on immigration has declined, state legislatures are deliberating record levels
MPI’s Provisional Visa System—A Good Concept But The Devil Is In The Details
By Deborah J. Notkin, AILA Past President This month, Migration Policy Institute rolled out its immigration reform proposal entitled Aligning Temporary Immigration Visas with US Labor Market Needs: The Case for a New System of Provisional Visas. The report acknowledges the current misguided requirem
A Tale of Two Villages
Take 15 minutes today and watch this very moving Frontline documentary about the devastating effect of the Postville, Iowa ICE raid on the town and on the two villages in Guatemala where the immigrants came from. http://bit.ly/GWBVu The Postville operation was the largest ICE raid in U.S. history an
You, Sir, Are No Thomas Paine
Guest blog by AILA Board member Jerome Grzeca, Grzeca Law Group, S.C. In just 4 months since its original posting, over 6 million people have tuned in to You Tube to see actor Bob Basso take on the role of Founding Father Thomas Paine in the video titled, “We the People Stimulus Package.“ View
The Immigration “Commission”: Poison Pill?
AILA Past President and current Board of Governors member, Deb Notkin, posts on the idea of “Immigration Commission.“ It sounds like a reasonable idea: Create an expert “commission“ of immigration to determine labor market needs and adjust flows accordingly. But looking deeper calls into
287(g), Immigration Enforcement and the Census
Today, the New York Times opined on the late Friday afternoon announcement from DHS/ICE that 287(g) authorization was granted to an additional 11 law enforcement agencies, including one here in my home state of Georgia. Gwinnett County, which has had the distinction for the last 10 years of being on
Immigration And Blogs
Because the concept of “immigration“ is so broad it touches virtually every aspect of life today in America. Whether it is health care, the environment, crime, or sports, the discussion almost always come back to immigration. That said, there are a number of terrific blogs in the “blogospehere
The Senate is at it again! Hold Onto your INA!!!
The Senators are coming, the Senators are coming! That's right, the Senate is debating the DHS Appropriations bill right now, and immigration amendments are being offered. I blogged about the Sessions E-Verify proposal yesterday. Well bill, that passed by voice vote this morning, but not before the
Employers Beware: ICE Commences Nation-wide Audit of Business Immigration Records
Guest blog by Josie Gonzalez, Gonzalez & Harris U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that it is issuing 652 Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to businesses in order to audit I-9 records that contain information regarding an employee's right to work legally in the U.S. ICE was qu
There He Goes Again–Sessions and E-Verify
Senator Sessions cannot leave his hands off of E-Verify. Now in “stealth“ mode, Senator Sessions has slyly introduced an E-Verify amendment (SB 1371) during today's full Senate vote on the DHS appropriations bill. The Sessions amendment calls for a permanent reauthorization of the Basic Pilot/
Schumer And Immigration
Okay, the opening salvo is fired. Senator Schumer has announced the starting point of this year's immigration reform debate, kind of. In an article in the Washington Post, Senator Schumer has outlined what he sees as the baseline of immigration reform. Spencer Hsu, of Washington Post reports that Sc
Vivek Wadwha–A Voice in The Wilderness?
As many regular readers of this blog know, I am impressed by the amazing work of Vivek Wadhwa, research associate at Harvard, and an entrepreneur in residence at Duke. This week his most recently published article, The University Of Competition, in Outlook India, points out the obvious-“with its fla
Senator Ensign, Immigration and “Illegal”
What is the deal with Senator Ensign? He cheated on his wife? Don't all politicians do that? (The answer is no, not all politicians do that). So, what is the a big deal? Let me tell you-Because Senator Ensign is a HYPOCRITE! Senator Ensign received a 100% rating from every anti-immigration group out
Due Process for Immigrants, is Due Process for all Americans
This blog post was contributed by AILA Immediate Past President Charles H. Kuck: Attorney General Holder took a step towards restoring a semblance of constitutional protection to all Americans last week, when he overturned the decision of Attorney General Mukasey in Matter of Compean, an Immigration
Immigration and AILA–One Year Later
A year ago I began my journey as AILA President with a speech at our annual conference in Vancouver. I focused my words on five principles in which I believe, God, Family, the Constitution, Service, and Litigation. Today is my last day as AILA President. As I reflect on the last year, I see that [&#
The Harbingers of Doom–UPLers and Those Who Assist Them
Today, New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, turning his attention rather momentarily away from Wall Street, issued more than 50 subpoenas to individuals and businesses in New York City, as part of a widening investigation into immigration fraud by unauthorized practitioners and businesses, inclu
Temporary Worker Programs, An Essential Component of Immigration Reform
Deborah Notkin, AILA Past President, contributes today's blog on CIR: For those of us who have long been committed to Comprehensive Immigration Reform including a path to legalization for the undocumented, family reunification, restoring the order of law AND having a reasonable temporary worker visa
Sotomayor and Immigration Reform
Is it possible? Is there really link between President Obama's bold nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, with possible movement or non-movement on Immigration Reform this fall? The folks over at http://www.electoral-vote.com/ note that there may be a link: “A side effect of the Sotomayor nomination
Changing the Rules in the Middle of the Game
In the first week of May—without comment or, apparently, any concern for its impact—U.S. immigration officials unilaterally rewrote the law, disqualifying thousands of families and workers trapped half-way through the green card process. As a result, people who just last month would have been welcom
Making Sure Congress Gets It
A guest post from AILA Board of Governors Member Dagmar Butte: I recently received a response to a Contact Congress letter from a new Senator that appeared, on its face, to fully support CIR. As I read the letter more carefully; however, it became apparent that the letter focused almost exclusively