Immigration law is an integral part of America’s past, present, and future.

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.

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AILA Blog

Protective Standards Aren’t Enough, Congress Needs to Cut Detention Funding

AILA's Jen Whitlock recently visited an immigration detention facility and left knowing that the harm caused, despite protective standards, is unacceptable. She urges everyone to tell Congress to significantly reduce detention funding for ICE and explicitly prohibit funding for family detention.

AILA Blog

Legal Representation for Immigrants Protects Their Rights

AILA DEI Law Student Scholarship winner Melissa McElroy describes how “immigrants with or without status are at an enormous disadvantage when they face immigration proceedings without an attorney“ and how state and federal legislation aims to expand legal representation programs.

AILA Blog

Why Finding Your Pro Bono Opportunity Can Help YOU

AILA's Practice and Professionalism Center highlights a few recent “Pro Bono High Fives,“ featuring AILA members, to inspire and encourage others to use their legal expertise to change lives, and maybe have some fun too!

AILA Blog

We Need Humane Solutions, Not Harmful Legislation

AILA DEI Law Student Scholarship winner Woorod Atiyat urges Congress to turn away from harmful legislation and instead “rise to its responsibility and serve as protectors of the immigrant community and our country's values of fairness and justice.“

3/16/23
AILA Blog

Free and Freeing: AILA’s Law Student Membership

AILA member Marisabel Alonso encourages all current law students interested in immigration law to take advantage of the many benefits of AILA's free law student membership and how those benefits can help them during law school and beyond as they become practitioners.

AILA Blog

A Call to Action on International Women’s Day 2023

Karen Hill, co-leader of AILA's Women in Immigration Law Interest Group (WMIG) shares information about International Women's Day and urges everyone to find ways to #EmbraceEquity today; AILA members can join the WMIG and other listservs through myAILA.

3/8/23
AILA Blog

USCIS’ Updated CSPA Guidance and Transferring Underlying Basis

AILA member Peter Choi urges USCIS to expand on its recent CSPA guidance and similarly update its guidance on transfer-of-underlying-basis requests, which would help many families and serve the goals stated in USCIS' FYs 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.

AILA Blog

An Under-Resourced Obama-Era Refugee and Parole Program Could Be A Safe and Legal Pathway Too

Linda Evarts and Jen Whitlock urge the Biden Administration to review the Obama-era Central American Minors (CAM) parole program as it expands the use of parole to other populations, noting the lack of resources and attention to the implementation of the program has kept families separated.

3/2/23 Asylum
AILA Blog

Facing Challenges: DACAmented and Undocumented Attorneys Practice Immigration Law in Liminality

AILA DEI Law Student Scholarship recipient Gerardo Villegas Juarez knows firsthand the liminality experienced by DACA recipients, writing “DACA remains a temporary solution…DACA opens the door but also tethers you to the prospect of removal.“

2/28/23 DACA
AILA Blog

America’s Industrial Cities Can Benefit from the Start-Up Visa

AILA member Aaron Kochenderfer highlights the way that a start-up visa might help improve the American economy, particularly in Rust Belt cities and nearby communities, harnessing the power of innovation to increase shared prosperity.

AILA Blog

Immigrants Can Get the Job Done, If America Lets Them

AILA members Roujin Mozaffarimehr and Ally Bolour urge the Biden administration and Congress to recognize the cumbersome, arbitrary, and uncertain context in which employers try to access H-2B visas and some clear ways the process could be improved to address workforce needs.

AILA Blog

Federal Litigation as a Tool to Fight Unjust L-1 Denials

AILA member Dominique Pando Bucci describes unreasonable denials of L-1s and why one denial of an L-1 intracompany transferee petition filed on behalf of a small business led her to file and win her first federal litigation case. I recently took on, and won, a federal court case challenging an unjus

AILA Blog

Resiliency in the Face of Hostile Immigration Policies

AILA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Law Student Scholarship recipient Anthony Wong urges fellow AILA members to develop resiliency in order to face future challenges to the immigration law community.

2/8/23
AILA Blog

The Importance of Filing Proper Tax Returns for Immigration Purposes

AILA member Kara Hart shares why she advises people seeking immigration benefits to seek qualified help to ensure they file taxes correctly, noting that when immigration officials review tax returns, they may be asking several key questions.

AILA Blog

Some Basics of Business Immigration to the U.S. in 2023

AILA member Stanislav Shamayev walks through some of the basics of business immigration to the U.S., writing that “American immigration law is complex, to put it mildly, but a good immigration attorney can talk through your options and set you up for success.“

AILA Blog

New Policy Aims to Expand Noncitizen Worker Protections After Historical Discrimination

In this blog post, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Law Student Scholarship recipient Taylor Flores describes the historical discrimination faced by immigrant workers and the new policy from the Biden administration which aims to expand noncitizen worker protections.

1/25/23
AILA Blog

The Maggio Law Student Fellowship Can Open Up a New World for You

AILA President Jeremy McKinney urges law students interested in immigration law practice to apply for the Michael Maggio Immigrants' Rights Summer Fellowship Program and highlights six examples of recent fellows as a way to inspire the next generation of law students. Deadline is Feb 10, 2023.

1/23/23
AILA Blog

The Toll of Delays – USCIS Allows Nearly 600% Increase in I-601A Waiver Processing Times

Using data from AILA member case examples, AILA Liaison Coordinator Jonathan Valdez describes the ripple effect of USCIS' excessive delay in I-601A processing, noting that the impact “is as profound as it is immeasurable,“ and urging the implementation of reforms that improve processing times

AILA Blog

T Nonimmigrant Visas: An Opportunity to Provide a Path Forward

AILA members Helen Tarokic and Jesse Bless describe the current status of the T nonimmigrant visa, created by Congress to protect trafficking victims, noting that given recent updates to the USCIS Policy Manual more asylum and U-visa applicants may be eligible for this often-overlooked visa.

AILA Blog

The “Doctrine of Consular Nonreviewability” Explained

In a video blog post, AILA Law Journal authors Sabrina Damast and Eric Lee explain what the “Doctrine of Consular Nonreviewability“ is, why it is important to immigration lawyers, and the current state of the doctrine in federal court litigation.

12/20/22 Removal & Relief
AILA Blog

U.S. Government Detention of Asylum Seekers Flouts International Human Rights Law

AILA Law Journal authors Curtis F.J. Doebbler and Elisa Fornalé shared some insights from their recent article, “International Human Rights Law and the Detention of Asylum Seekers“ which focused on the U.S. practice of detaining asylum seekers and relevant international human rights obligation

12/13/22 Asylum
AILA Blog

With More Funding Must Come More Accountability

AILA Policy Associate Paul Stern writes why Congress must provide greater funding and accountability for USCIS to continue addressing its backlogs and processing delays.

AILA Blog

The Death to Asylum Regulations Continue to Harm Asylum Seekers Even Though They Are Enjoined

AILA member Victoria Neilson writes about the “Death to Asylum“ regulations and their continued impact on practitioners and asylum seekers ahead of the two-year anniversary of these Trump-era regulations being published on 12/11/20.

AILA Blog

We Must Protect Children in Immigration Proceedings

AILA Law Journal authors Lory D. Rosenberg, Susan G. Roy, Paul Schmidt, and Rekha Sharma-Crawford share some insights about their article, “Time for a Child Welfare Approach to Cancellation of Removal“ in which they focused on how the best interests of the child are routinely ignored.

AILA Blog

RFE – The Acronym that Continues to Confound and Bewilder Practitioners

AILA member Vaman Kidambi shares insights into the confusion surrounding “Requests for Evidence“ (RFEs) and how seemingly extremely similar, if not identical, cases result in different outcomes, urging USCIS to reengage with stakeholders on this issue.