Call for Papers: AILA Law Journal

Submission guidelines: The AILA Law Journal seeks submissions related to immigration and the expansion of executive authority. Articles must be within the range of 2,500-7,000 words, including citations. Articles previously published in any form (including as a law review note) will not be accepted.
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2026
Submit to: ailalawjournal@aila.org

Article Content and Style

The AILA Law Journal is published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association twice a year. The Journal supports AILA’s mission to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, and enhance the professional development of its members.

To be considered for our Spring 2026 issue, submissions must meet the guidelines outlined herein and fall within the scope of the Journal’s purpose. In particular, the Journal is seeking submissions about the expansion of executive authority through immigration under the Trump Administration. Topics could include but are not limited to: whether birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth amendment can be limited through executive order; H-1B visa changes through presidential proclamation; expansion of detention, removal, and inadmissibility grounds; and whether executive actions can be limited through the major questions doctrine and the demise of Chevron deference under Loper Bright as well as related topics.

Accepted articles will conform to the standards of professional legal writing, be timely or novel in concept, and predominantly related to immigration law, practice, and/or policy. See examples of published articles with acceptable content, citation, and style.

Articles must appear as continuous prose, with full sentences. Do not put citations in the text; rather, use endnotes only. Excessive use of quotation marks should be avoided and not be used when referring to a few ordinary words of a speaker or writer. They are appropriate for coined phrases, but only those unfamiliar, and only on first reference. Articles should be written in neutral, third-person voice. “You,” “I,” “We,” and similar terms are discouraged.

Submission Package Requirements

Articles must be within the range of 2,500-7,000 words, including citations. Articles previously published in any form (including as a law review note) will not be accepted. After publication, authors and columnists may reproduce their individual articles and columns online, so long as the Journal is cited and a hyperlink to the Journal homepage is used (https://www.aila.org/books-and-publications/read-the-aila-law-journal).

All articles must be submitted in a single email message to ailalawjournal@aila.org using the subject line “Submission: [Author Last Name]- [Article Title]” as an attached Microsoft Word file. All charts, graphs, and tables should be typed or professionally typeset and included with the submission as attachments. The body of the message must also include:

• a clearly written, short author biography that is no longer than 100 words;
• an author address;
• a direct phone number;
• the author’s email address;
• the article’s word count; and
• a two- or three-sentence summary of the submitted article.

Contact Information

Additional questions may be directed to:

Morgan Morrissette Wright, Esq., Editorial Product Manager
Production Editor, AILA Law Journal
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Direct: 202.507.7539 | Email: mwright@aila.org

Or

Danielle M. Polen, Editorial Director
Managing Editor, AILA Law Journal
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Direct: 202.507.7637 | Email: dpolen@aila.org