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, March 2024
The March 2024 GMS E-Bulletin presents a regional spotlight highlighting the East Asia region.
Think Immigration: Customer Service Chronicles: Tracking USCIS’s Implementation of AILA’s 2021 Recommendations
AILA’s Paul Stern and Jonathan Valdez share insights into the new policy brief they developed to track the status of AILA’s 2021 recommendations for the Biden Administration to improve USCIS customer service, the impact on members and their clients, and the work remaining to be done.
Think Immigration: Magic Mushrooms and Psychedelics are Still a Bad Trip for U.S. Immigration Purposes
AILA member W. Scott Railton discusses the potential consequences of possession or use of “magic mushrooms” for foreign nationals, writing that “Magic mushrooms and psychedelics are moving to the mainstream in some places, but the immigration laws are unlikely to catch up any time soon.”
AILA Releases New Edition of Immigration and Crimes Resource
AILA proudly releases the 10th edition of Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity; AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson noted the resource is “packed full of analysis” and is “vital for anyone whose practice touches on the intersection of immigration and criminal law.”
Think Immigration: Add that to the Tab – Rising Costs to Tour the United States
The new fee schedule, taking effect April 1, 2024, will have an impact on visas and applications, including those for musicians and artists as Anthony Pawelski shares in this blog post for Think Immigration in which he highlights concerns about the chilling effect higher fees may have.
Think Immigration: The New Beneficiary-Centric H-1B Registration Process – Good News for Employees, Mixed Bag for Employers
AILA Supervisory Policy and Practice Counsel Michael Turansick breaks down the new H-1B visa registration process which has been significantly updated as USCIS tries to ensure the integrity of the system and a level playing field.
House Republicans Vote to Impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary
AILA’s Ben Johnson and the American Immigration Council’s Jeremy Robbins responded to the vote held February 13, in which House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a vote of 214-213 following a failed attempt last week.
Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
AILA member Maurice “Mo“ Goldman shares insights into why it feels the country is moving away from valuing its history as a “nation of immigrants“ and emphasizes the need for immigration attorneys and their clients to share their stories and shift the narrative.
25 Years Ago the State Department Recognized How Visa Consul and Immigration Counsel Can Work Together in the Visa Application Process
AILA member Liam Schwartz reflects on Department of State cable 99 State 21138 which was spearheaded by the late Stephen K. Fischel; the cable highlights the importance to the visa application process of the working relationship between consular officers and immigration attorneys.
AILA Executive Committee Shares Open Letter Regarding Efforts to Impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
As the House Republican majority moves forward with their efforts to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, the Executive Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) shared the following open letter.
AILA Executive Director Responds to Release of Bipartisan Senate Bill
AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson responded to the newly released bill text from the bipartisan group of Senators negotiating the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024.”
The Mandatory Detention of Unlawful Entrants Seeking Asylum in the United States and the Due Process Protection
AILA Law Journal author Jim Nzoguma Mayua shares more about his article in the Fall 2023 edition of the journal, in which he discusses the legal uncertainty stemming from Supreme Court rulings denying asylum seekers due process protection.
AILA Responds to New Biden Administration Rules on Fees and H-1B Registration Process
AILA responded to the advance copies shared publicly by the Biden Administration regarding U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fees and a revised H-1B visa registration process with insights from President Farshad Owji and Dir of Gov’t Relations Shev Dalal-Dheini.
Ninth Edition of AILA’s Invaluable Asylum Primer Released
Ben Johnson on the 9th edition of AILA’s Asylum Primer: A Practical Guide to U.S. Asylum Law and Procedure by Dree K. Collopy: “This book will help practitioners, those new to the area of practice as well as long-time asylum attorneys, do the best job possible for their vulnerable clients.”
Is Chevron Dead? Thoughts after Oral Arguments in Relentless, Inc. and Loper Bright Enterprises
Brian Green and Stephen Yale-Loehr describe the recent oral arguments in two SCOTUS cases which could dramatically affect federal agency review; it is yet unclear whether the decisions will hurt or help immigrants when challenging ambiguous agency decisions or interpretations.
A Bridge We Can All Cross
AILA members César Magaña Linares and Raquel Fernández—a Salvadoran Dreamer with TPS and a second generation Venezuelan American—call for intra-immigrant solidarity.
SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments on Notice Requirements (Again)
In this blog post, AILA Policy and Practice Counsel Manolasya Perepa describes the recent SCOTUS consolidated oral arguments in Campos-Chavez v. Garland and Garland v. Singh and notes that “issues of improper notice pervade multiple aspects of the immigration system.“
How the “Internal Enemy” Label Forces Venezuelans to Flee Their Country
AILA Law Journal authors Emercio José Aponte and Andrea Paola Aponte share more about their article in which they discuss how the current authoritarian regime in Venezuela has been violating citizens' human rights and what that means for claims of asylum.
Take the First Step and Just Apply for the Maggio Fellowship!
Alejandra Arrieta, the 2023 Maggio Fellowship winner, describes how the fellowship offered opportunities to network and train in immigration law. 2024 fellowship applications are due by February 16.
Visalaw.Ai Launches GEN 1.0: A Revolutionary AI-Powered Legal Research Tool for Immigration Law Firms
Visalaw.Ai and AILA announce the launch of GEN 1.0, the only GPT designed for immigration lawyers powered by AILA resources; Gen’s initial release is exclusively available to AILA members.
No Fault/Technical Reasons: A Chronicle of Misfeasance Exposed
AILA Law Journal author Martin Robles-Avila highlights how a flawed rulemaking process has affected Nonimmigrant Status breaches and a quandary business immigration practitioners often find themselves in determining whether a client is eligible for adjustment of status.
FOIA Behind the Scenes – How USCIS and DOS Process Immigration-Related Requests
AILA member Alexandra Zaretsky describes how the International Refugee Assistance Project decided to find out how USCIS and the State Department process FOIA requests by filing a “meta-FOIA“ which unearthed some questionable agency policies of potential interest to others.
New England AILA Members Joined Community and Government in Helping Newcomers
AILA New England Chapter Chair Robin Nice describes the recent successful set of EAD clinics hosted in Massachusetts, where state and federal agencies worked together with local partners and volunteers “to address immigration issues in a cooperative, common sense, humane manner.“
Digging Into One Key Aspect of Refugee Designations
AILA Law Journal author Betsy Fisher shares more about her recent article published in the journal which reflects on the disappointing results she has seen in one kind of humanitarian program: Priority-2 (or P-2) refugee resettlement, and seeks to identify ways to best leverage P-2 resettlement.
Advancing Gender and Sex Equality in Asylum Protections
AILA Law Journal Author Elaine Wood shares a bit about her article entitled “Persecution Taxonomy: Adding Sex and Gender as Protected Grounds for Asylum“ in which she argues persuasively that revising the applicable language is now imperative to address contemporary concerns.