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
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AILA Elects New Officers; Annaluisa Padilla to Serve as President of Association
Today, AILA elected new officers to its Executive Committee for the 2017-2018 term during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. Annaluisa Padilla was installed as AILA’s President.
AILA Announces 2018 Annual Conference Will Be Held in San Francisco
AILA announced that the association’s 2018 Annual Conference will be held in San Francisco, CA, June 13-16, 2018. The conference had been set for Grapevine, TX, but the Board of Governors voted earlier this month to move the event after weighing the potential impact of SB 4.
Free Legal Consultations from Immigration Attorneys During AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans
On June 24, 2017, AILA, in partnership with AILA’s Mid-South Chapter and Catholic Charities of New Orleans, will offer free Know Your Rights presentations and immigration law consultations in New Orleans as part of the seventh Pro Bono Clinic held in conjunction with AILA’s Annual Conference.
AILA Presents Nora Elizabeth Phillips with the 2017 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award
AILA will recognize Nora Elizabeth Phillips, of Los Angeles, CA, with the 2017 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award, for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field, this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents Sarah Owings and Ruby Powers with the 2017 Advocacy Award
AILA will recognize Sarah Weston Hayes Owings, of Atlanta, GA, and Ruby Lichte Powers, of Houston, TX, with the 2017 Advocacy Award for outstanding efforts in support of AILA’s legislative agenda during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents Benjamin Casper Sanchez with the 2017 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award
AILA will recognize Benjamin Casper Sanchez, of the University of Minnesota Law School, with the 2017 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award, recognizing an outstanding professor in the area of immigration law, during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents the “Airport Lawyers” with the 2017 Arthur C. Helton Memorial Human Rights Award
AILA will recognize the “Airport Lawyers” with the 2017 Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award for outstanding service in advancing the cause of human rights this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents Ava Benach with the 2017 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award
AILA will recognize Ava Benach of Washington, D.C., with the 2017 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents Leslie Marshall with the 2017 Media Leadership Award
AILA will present talk show host Leslie Marshall with the 2017 Media Leadership Award, given to the individual whose efforts in the media most accurately depict immigration and immigrants, this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents Ben Winograd with the 2017 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award
AILA will recognize Ben Winograd, of Alexandria, VA, with the 2017 Joseph Minsky Young Lawyer Award for his outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law. He will receive the award this week during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
AILA Presents Crystal Williams with the 2017 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award
This week, AILA will recognize Crystal Williams of Morrisville, NC, with the 2017 Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding service, over a period of years, in advancing the mission, development, and value of AILA for its members and the public it serves.
AILA Recognizes Suzanne Brown with the 2017 Sam Williamson Mentor Award
This week, AILA will recognize Suzanne Brown, of St. Louis, MO, with the 2017 Sam Williamson Mentor Award in acknowledgment of her outstanding efforts and excellent counsel to immigration attorneys by providing mentoring assistance.
AILA Presents the Washington v. Trump Litigation Team with the 2017 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award
This week, AILA will recognize the Washington v. Trump Litigation Team: Bob Ferguson, Noah Purcell, and Colleen Melody, with the 2017 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award, for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law, during AILA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
Immigration Justice Campaign Launched to Train Legal Community to Defend Against Ramped-Up Deportation Machine
AILA and the American Immigration Council are launching the Immigration Justice Campaign, which will prepare more lawyers to be cutting-edge defenders of immigrants facing deportation and aims to significantly change the way the government can and will conduct immigration enforcement.
New Name, New Look, New Content – This Blog’s for You!
Welcome to Think Immigration, the new blog from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Here you'll find insightful commentary from legal experts - the folks who see firsthand every single day what immigration law and policy mean to our nation. They see the good, the bad, and the ugly,
Dollars and Sense
SB1070 made my state of Arizona about as unwelcoming as you'd imagine for a then-young Latino guy like me. I can recall being called an “illegal“ in an aisle of a Home Depot by an old woman who was surprised that I spoke English, and that I called her out, asking her who she was […]
Walking the Talk – Why AILA Moved the 2018 AC Out of Texas
Faced with the reality of SB-4's ugly shadow hanging over Texas, AILA has made the decision to move its Annual Conference (AC) in 2018, originally scheduled to take place in Texas, to another state. As a member of AILA's Executive Committee, I worked with my colleagues on the Board of Governors to
SB 4 Makes Texas Unwelcoming for AILA Annual Conference in 2018
The AILA Board of Governors voted to move the 2018 Annual Conference from Texas to another state in response to SB 4. AILA President Bill Stock noted, “SB 4 serves no legitimate purpose and undermines our country’s principles of fairness, due process, and equal treatment under the law.”
Take Action to Combat the Crisis in Post-Release Representation
Since July 2014, when the Obama Administration began detaining women and children crossing the southern border at a makeshift detention center in Artesia, New Mexico, more than 35,000 women and children from the Northern Triangle have been processed at detention centers near the southern border of t
Dangerous Exceptions?
In a recent op-ed in The Hill, James Tomsheck, former head of the Office of Internal Affairs for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lays out in detail why House and Senate efforts to weaken CBP hiring standards by waiving the polygraph test for certain applicants is a bad idea. Mr. Tomsheck ha
Access to Counsel Should be Non-Negotiable
“Wait, you mean to tell me you are not allowed to contact a lawyer at the airport?“ That is a familiar response when I tell people of the lack of any protocol for allowing access to counsel to those who are coming into the United States from abroad. The fact is, when someone enters the […
Immigrants’ Access to Counsel Topic of New Rulemaking Petition
AILA and the American Immigration Council have petitioned DHS and DOS to issue new regulations that will ensure all immigrants have access to legal counsel in secondary and deferred inspection, as well as at overseas consular interviews.
Fair Treatment Under the Law
Indiana's highest court handed down a unanimous ruling earlier this month protecting the rights of injured unauthorized immigrants to seek recovery of lost wages and decreased earning capacity and importantly, making their undocumented status inadmissible at trial in most cases. I represented the In
Rebecca Schueller Awarded 2017 Michael Maggio Immigrants’ Rights Summer Fellowship
AILA, CHRCL, and NIP/NLG are delighted to announce Rebecca Schueller is the Michael Maggio Immigrants' Rights Summer Fellow for 2017; Ms. Schueller will create a pilot program to provide legal assistance to detainees held at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, OH.
Trump Administration Budget Aims to Undermine Due Process and Implement Mass Deportation Plan
AILA opposes the Trump administration’s newly released FY2018 budget request, which would fund massive increases in immigration enforcement and border security and undermine due process in immigration law.