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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GMS E-Bulletin, April-May 2026
The April-May 2026 GMS E-Bulletin provides the latest updates from around the Globe, introductions of new GMS members, and useful information for your practice!
AILA: Republicans Choose to Shield ICE and BP from Accountability with Funding Bill Passage
AILA President Jeff Joseph responded to the House’s passage of the budget reconciliation bill, in which Congress provided DHS with an additional $70 billion in funding that enables the agency to operate through fiscal year 2029 without future appropriations by the legislative branch.
AILA Recognizes Andrew Rankin with the 2026 Sam Williamson Mentor Award
AILA recognizes Andrew Rankin with the 2026 Sam Williamson Mentor Award, in acknowledgment of his outstanding efforts and excellent counsel to immigration attorneys by providing mentoring assistance.
AILA Presents Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network with the 2026 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award
AILA recognizes the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN) with the 2026 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field.
Think Immigration: It Is So Clear Why We Need Fair, Independent, and Efficient Immigration Courts
AILA Media Advocacy Committee Chair Shannon Shepherd describes some of the ways the Trump Administration has undermined due process in the immigration courts and encourages readers to take action and tell Congress it is clear we need an independent immigration court system.
AILA Presents Ko Lyn Cheang and St. John Barned-Smith with the 2026 Media Leadership Award
AILA recognizes Ko Lyn Cheang and St. John Barned-Smith of the San Francisco Chronicle with the 2026 Media Leadership Award, given to individuals whose efforts in the media most accurately depict immigration and immigrants.
Think Immigration: Using Loper Bright to Advocate for Your Clients in Immigration Cases
AILA Rule of Law Task Force Member Cyrus Mehta urges immigration lawyers to “weave Loper Bright into everyday practice” as the decision “can help reorient immigration law toward closer adherence to statutory text and, indirectly, toward more humane outcomes, even in an era of renewed restriction.”
AILA Presents K. Catherine Walker with the 2026 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award
AILA recognizes K. Catherine Walker with the 2026 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award for her outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law.
AILA Presents Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg and Alexander Smith with the 2026 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award
AILA recognizes Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg and Alexander Smith with the 2026 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law. Each winner was nominated for their superlative legal skills and impact through litigation.
NJ Spotlight News: ‘Black box’: Trump Administration Moves to Wipe Out ICE Watchdog
The Administration’s latest budget request to Congress would cut all funding and staff for the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. AILA Senior Director of Government Relations Greg Chen emphasized that as the detained population has exploded, DHS oversight agencies are being wiped out.
AILA Presents Rebecca Scholtz with the 2026 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award
AILA recognizes Rebecca Scholtz with the 2026 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law.
Deseret News (Opinion): A New Immigration Law Memo Undermines 74 Years of Intent
In an op-ed, Charles Kuck, former AILA President, “This administration cannot pass an immigration law to its liking. What it can do is make existing law so difficult to access that it ceases to function in practice. That is what this memo attempts.”
AILA Presents the Asylum Law Clinic at Southwestern Law School with the 2026 Arthur C. Helton Memorial Human Rights Award
AILA recognizes the Asylum Law Clinic at Southwestern Law School with the 2026 Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award for outstanding service in advancing the cause of human rights.
Think Immigration: When Chaos Is the Strategy: Recognizing the Patterns
AILA Board Member Andrew Nietor writes about how AILA's strength is that "as immigration attorneys, and as an AILA community, we work at the intersection of law, policy, and humanity" helping to identify patterns of policy changes and collectively respond.
AILA Presents Angelo Paparelli with the 2026 Advocacy Award
AILA recognizes Angelo Paparelli with the 2026 Advocacy Award for outstanding efforts in support of AILA’s advocacy agenda.
Think Immigration: Why I Wrote About the Major Questions Doctrine and Expedited Removal and Why It Matters Now
AILA Law Journal author Catherine Tanihu explains what drove her to write about the Major Questions Doctrine and ICE's expansion of expedited removal, writing that her "article argues it’s time to apply the same scrutiny to DHS that we’re applying everywhere else."
Miami Herald (Editorial): Under Trump’s New Green Card Rules, Miami’s Legal Immigrants Have Fewer Options
The Miami Herald Editorial Board writes that the Trump Administration “is playing a cruel game with people trying to become legal immigrants.” According to former AILA President Ira Kurzban, “I think this is just another attempt to basically end the immigration system in the United States.”
Washington Post: Trump Administration Begins Making New Requests of Green-card Applicants
Discussing USCIS’s new adjustment of status memo, AILA President Jeff Joseph told the Washington Post, “We’re already seeing it filter down to the field office ... This is another method of putting cogs in the wheel to try and shut down legal immigration.”
Associated Press: Trump’s Latest Immigration Move Clouds Path to Green Cards
In a recent Associated Press article, Shev Dalal-Dheini, AILA Senior Director of Government Relations, underscored that it is difficult for practitioners to provide generalized legal advice about the memo and noted, “It’s going to be a very case by case specific thing.”
Think Immigration: Has Civility in the Immigration Courts Reached Rock Bottom?
In this blog post, AILA AROL Task Force Member Kevin Bank describes how "deterioration of civility further erodes the rule of law" in immigration court, and how the experience of Helen Suzman, an opposition politician in South Africa during apartheid, inspires him to stay strong despite adversity.
Good Morning America: Trump Administration Issues Directive Requiring Green Card Applicants to Apply Outside the U.S.
AILA Senior Director of Government Relations Shev Dalal-Dheini explained that Congress designed U.S.-based adjustments to prevent families from being separated and ensure U.S. companies could retain employees. She noted that those impacted by this memo “came here legally or were admitted legally.”
Think Immigration: Dismantling the Immigration Courts – An Attack on Due Process
In this blog post, AILA AROL Task Force Member Karen Grisez describes how “this administration has mounted a less visible attack on due process inside the U.S. immigration court system” and reviews “what due process means and how it applies in the immigration context.”
Think Immigration: Wong Kim Ark, Tuan Van Bui, and What AAPI Heritage Month Asks of Us
AILA Member Soon Young Joe Kwon urges the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) community “to raise our voices not just in celebration of what AAPI communities have built, but loudly and on the record on behalf of every immigrant community standing where we once stood.”
Think Immigration: “Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir? At Long Last, Have you Left No Sense of Decency?”
AILA Law Journal author Vaman Kidambi describes why he focused his piece on the decision of Judge William G. Young in AAUP v. Rubio and the call to uphold justice in the face of adversity; a link to the full article is available in the blog post.
Think Immigration: A Rule Meant to Protect Is Cutting Both Ways: Why Matter of Lozada Makes the Case for Independent Immigration Courts
AILA Second Vice President Rekha Sharma-Crawford, member of the AROL Task Force, describes how "Matter of Lozada is not the disease; it is the symptom. The disease is a court system never given the structural independence required to...apply the law consistently and protect fundamental fairness."