Immigration News
Check out daily roundups of immigration-related news stories, read articles that quote and cite AILA and AILA leadership, and check out analysis from AILA members and leadership on the AILA blog.
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AILA in the News
Browse the Immigration News collection
DOJ Proposes Regulation to Turn Immigration Appeals into Tool of the Administration’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda
AILA Senior Policy Counsel Laura Lynch and AILA First Vice President Jeremy McKinney respond to a new rule proposed by DOJ that would overhaul Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) processes.
Rescission of Furlough Threats Is an Important First Step in Holding USCIS Accountable
AILA Director of Government Relations Sharvari Dalal-Dheini and AILA President Jennifer Minear respond to USCIS’s announcement that it will cancel its planned furlough of over 13,000 employees.
AILA and Sidley Austin, LLP Challenge Trump Administration’s Unlawful USCIS Fee Rule on Behalf of Immigrants’ Rights Organizations
On August 20, 2020, AILA and Sidley Austin, LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of the nation’s leading immigrants’ rights organizations challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful USCIS Fee Rule. The law suit seeks to prevent the rule from going into effect on October 2, 2020.
Sometimes You Just Have to Take ‘Em to Court
AILA First Vice President Jeremy McKinney describes his first foray into litigation, and what tools and resources can help AILA members litigate and win cases, writing that litigation “can benefit your clients, it can benefit the immigration bar, and ultimately, it can benefit everyone.“
How To: Take Cases to Immigration Court
AILA Immigration Courts Conference Chair Michael Vastine shares insights on how AILA members can prepare themselves for immigration court, offering insights into the need to be “uniformly prepared, comprehensively trained, and conditioned to assertively and persuasively defend.“
New FOIA Request Filed to Force Agency to Release Immigration Court Operations Information on COVID-19 Pandemic
AILA, the Council, and NIPNLG filed a FOIA request to obtain documents related to EOIR’s response to COVID-19, noting that EOIR has repeatedly ignored requests for information and seeking expedited release of documents that are integral to understanding EOIR’s operations during the pandemic.
USCIS to Congress: “Give Us $1.2 Billion,” But Does the Data Pass the Sniff Test?
In this blog post, members of AILA New England highlight the many questions about how USCIS has engendered a deficit requiring a congressional bailout and raises concerns about the need for data transparency and accountability.
Civil Rights Coalition Files Motion for Preliminary Injunction to Halt Immigration Ban
AILA, Justice Action Center, and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono support from Mayer Brown LLP, filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a preliminary injunction to halt implementation of the Trump Administration’s immigration ban.
The Year Ahead
AILA President Jennifer Minear looks forward to the year ahead during her installation speech and calls on all of us to “push ahead, sure in our cause, guided by the strength of our convictions, and buoyed by the support of this AILA community.“
AILA: Trump’s Wind-Down of DACA Once Again Throws Dreamers’ Lives into Turmoil
AILA President Jennifer Minear and AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson respond to the Trump administration announcement that it will begin to wind down legal protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients while it conducts a review of the program.
The View from the Chair
In recognition of the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and acknowledgment that there is still much work to be done, AILA republishes, with permission, a piece from Diversity & Inclusion Committee member Caroline Ostrom on avoiding reinforcing the social perceptions around disabilities.
Reflections on a Year to Remember
This blog post is the published transcript of the year-end speech given by Immediate Past President Marketa Lindt during AILA's Virtual Annual Conference on July 20, 2020.
An Even Rougher Version of the RAISE Act?
AILA Member John Manley compares the provisions in the RAISE Act (which Congress failed to pass) and the executive actions being taken by the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic and notices some similarities.
Individuals, Employers, and Organizations Join to File First Lawsuit Challenging Entirety of Trump’s Immigration Ban
AILA, Justice Action Center, and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono support from Mayer Brown LLP, sued the Trump Administration on behalf of 23 individual and organizational plaintiffs to prevent the devastating effects of President’s Trump’s unlawful and unconstitutional immigration ban.
Fighting for Freedom from Detention During COVID-19
National Advocacy Counsel Katie Shepherd of the Immigration Justice Campaign shares the recent work with pro bono counsel Gibson Dunn that aims to free immigrants from the appalling conditions at Joe Corley detention facility.
LPR Applicants, Their Sponsors, and Immigrant and Civil Rights Groups Sue Over Law Violations in Implementation of Trump Administration’s Public Charg
Today, AILA and our partners filed a complaint on behalf of a group of applicants for lawful permanent residence, their sponsors, and nonprofit immigration legal service providers, suing the Trump administration for violating the law in its implementation of the new “public charge” regulation.
The Administration is Weaponizing COVID-19 to End Immigration
AILA Past President Ira Kurzban details how the Trump Administration has weaponized the COVID-19 pandemic to implement long-sought immigration policies, banning immigrants and non-immigrants alike.
Administration Plans Unnecessary and Unconscionable Ban on Asylum Seekers Masked Behind False Public Health Premise
AILA and the Council expressed deep concern about the administration’s soon-to-be-published proposed rule that would allow DHS to ban people from seeking asylum or withholding of removal in the United States solely because they traveled from or through a country under threat by a serious disease.
During the Pandemic, We Need H-2A Temporary Workers More Than Ever
In this blog post, AILA law student member Maria Jaramillo highlights the indispensable workers who come to the U.S. on H-2A visas and ensure the U.S. food supply continues, and how employers need to step up and protect them during the pandemic.
Trump Administration Makes Immigration Courts an Enforcement Tool by Appointing Prosecutors to Lead
AILA condemns the Trump administration’s recent ramp-up of efforts to turn the immigration court system into an enforcement tool rather than an independent arbiter for justice.
USCIS Hypocrisy Reaches New Levels
Asylum experts Dree Collopy and Lindsay Harris highlight the ways in which asylum adjudication inefficiencies have contributed to USCIS' $1.2 billion budget shortfall and urge that Congress hold USCIS accountable, linking to AILA's Take Action on the issue that members of the public can easily use.
Reuniting Mirna’s Family Despite the Immigration Ban
In this blog post, Michael Eatroff shares Mirna's story; she was one of the plaintiffs in the litigation filed by AILA, Justice Action Center, Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono counsel Mayer Brown to protect children from aging out under the April 22 Proclamation.
Stooping to A New Low – USCIS Statement Throws Constitution Out the Window
AILA Member Matt Maiona highlights a recent outrageous USCIS statement in response to the SCOTUS DACA ruling, which showcases the dire need for agency reform, writing, “Perhaps now more than ever, government institutions must strive to restore the faith of Americans in the integrity of government.&#
Children of Permanent Residents and U.S. Citizens Exempt from New Immigration Ban
Representatives from AILA, Justice Action Center, and Innovation Law Lab react to the carve-out exemption in President Trump’s immigration ban expansion for children or child relatives who could be separated from their families if they age out while the ban is in effect.
Advocates Demand Release of Individuals Endangered in Texas Detention Facility
On June 23, 2020, the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, through their pro bono work with the Immigration Justice Campaign, filed a group habeas petition demanding the release of individuals detained in the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas due to the conditions at this ICE facility.