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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California’s TRUTH Act – Due Process for Immigrants Held in Local Jails
On September 28, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the TRUTH Act which protects immigrant communities against harsh immigration enforcement practices. With this law, California becomes the first state to require immigrants be told of their right to an attorney before being inter
Hostile Jurisdictions
U.S. immigration lawyers, members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), practice in every state in the union and other countries besides. We fight for clients no matter where they are, to the best of our abilities. However, we are currently wrestling with an elephant of a problem -
Shining a Light on Domestic Violence to Assist Immigrant Victims
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is intended to shine a light on the human right to be free from violence, ensure that all victims of domestic violence know they are not alone, and foster supportive communities that help survivors seek justice. In the United States, twenty people
Jimenez Moreno v. Napolitano: Immigration Detainers Require a Warrant
The interior enforcement agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), employs various ways to co-opt state and local law enforcement to help it enforce the immigration laws. One of those tools, an immigration detainer, asks local law enforcement to
Federal Government Must Adopt Own Advisory Committee’s Recommendations and End Family Detention
AILA, the Council, and CLINIC welcomed the unanimous conclusion from the DHS Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers that “detention is generally neither appropriate nor necessary for families” and urged DHS to adopt the recommendations immediately.
How Do You Manage the Risks of EB-5 Practice?
Do you remember your Risk Management class in law school? Neither do I. It's not offered. Yet as lawyers, we have to manage risk every day. True, rarely do we reflect “I'm doing a good job managing my risks today.“ We just do it. But taking time to understand risks and risk management can make
AILA: SCOTUS Denies Rehearing in Deferred Action Case Leaving Millions of Immigrants Out in the Cold
AILA is disappointed with today’s Supreme Court decision denying the request for a rehearing in United States v. Texas; AILA President Bill Stock noted, “the Supreme Court has once again allowed state governments to block federal policy initiatives with which they disagree.”
Building a Force of Zealous, Creative Refugee and Asylum Advocates
According to UNHCR's 2015 Global Trends Report, one out of every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum due to wars, conflict, and persecution that are not ending, but being met with impunity by governments and the international community. No surprise then that
No More Diapers in Detention
The beginning of a young lawyer's career is, naturally, a time of many first experiences. Many of these “firsts“ are so nerve-wracking they churn your stomach: the first time you step into court with the weight of someone's future on your shoulders, the first time you stand up next to a client
Baby Steps Toward Transparency
Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) took another small step toward transparency - issuing a Request for Quote (RFQ) for 108 body-worn cameras and 12 vehicle-mounted cameras. It probably seems strange to get even a little bit excited about the announcement of a bureaucratic process, b
National Academies Report Underscores Immense Economic Importance of Immigrants to America
Welcoming a new report on immigration from the National Academies, AILA President Bill Stock noted it confirms decades of research, and “what most Americans have always known” that immigrants who come to America “share our ideals and values and contribute to our communities, society, and economy.”
AILA: Government’s Plan to Resume Haitian Removals Could Endanger Asylum Seekers and Vulnerable Immigrants
AILA expressed serious concerns about the decision by DHS and ICE to resume regular deportations of Haitians; AILA President Bill Stock noted that “the decision to recommence removals to Haiti is impossible to reconcile with recent official recognition of the ongoing humanitarian crisis there.”
Opening Minds and Hearts in the Immigration Debate
There are very few issues facing our country today that are more polarizing than immigration. From the White House to your parents' house, Wall Street to Main Street, the classroom to the dining room, discussions about immigration have sharply divided parties—and touched a collective nerve. The curr
Arizona: A Lesson in Tolerance
Arizona…you never learn, do you? In 1987, I was living in Tucson. I was in 7th grade and the state of Arizona provided me with a crash course in racism, the civil rights movement and very poor decision-making. Former Governor Evan Mecham infamously rescinded an executive order by his predecess
Solicitor General Apologizes to the Supreme Court, Again
The moral of this blog post is two-fold. First, stranger things have happened, and second, do not believe everything someone tells you because just saying it does not make it so. On August 26, 2016, Acting Solicitor General Ian Heath Gershengorn penned a letter to the Honorable Clerk of the Supreme
AILA’s 10th Annual Citizenship Day Will Help Thousands
AILA is proud to sponsor the 10th annual Citizenship Day on 9/17/16; the event, a partnership with the NALEO Educational Fund, brings together AILA attorneys across the country, along with other advocates, to provide assistance as lawful permanent residents seek to naturalize.
Why Is Texas Making the Roads Less Safe?
We all want to feel safer. There are dozens of regulations in place to increase our safety on a day-to-day basis. We require people to have health insurance, car insurance, to buckle their seatbelts, strap children into car seats, keep job sites safe, make sure food is labeled clearly, restrict pre
When Pictures Are Worth More than a Thousand Words
I had heard stories about Border Patrol's mistreatment of immigrants. When I volunteered in Artesia, New Mexico, and Dilley, Texas, the mothers and children there told me what a horrible experience they'd had in Border Patrol custody. Over the years, I'd become familiar with the term hieleras, or ic
Avoiding Potential Pitfalls in the Global Immigration Context
Immigration lawyers regularly see the damage “notarios“ can inflict on innocent clients who don't realize they are not dealing with a qualified lawyer or don't understand why it's important to use a lawyer competent in immigration law. Many of us have worked hard to educate the public on the d
Bring Hope Back to Berks
History is full of places designed to hide people. People like Alexandre Dumas' Man in the Iron Mask, imprisoned on an island in the Mediterranean with his identity concealed. Refugees subject to inhumane treatment by the Australian government on the island of Nauru. And, in the United States, for
AILA: Trump Immigration Policy Unworkable and Inhumane
AILA expressed deep concern over Donald Trump’s immigration platform which “reflected a lack of understanding of immigration law, a disregard for fundamental rights of due process guaranteed by the Constitution, and a failure to appreciate the valuable contributions that immigrants make.”
What is Donald Trump’s Position on Immigration?
Why do we ask? And why particularly of Donald Trump and not Hillary Clinton? While the devil is always in the details, it is clear that Secretary Clinton has a more favorable view of immigration and has laid out a fairly clear strategy for how she would reform the current system. But the question
Taking that Final Step Toward Citizenship
Before he was president, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in? What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? What stops one branch of the U.S. government from becoming too powerful? How many amendments does the U.S. Constitution have? These four questions seem innocuous but t
AILA: New Business Immigration Rule Takes Step Toward Welcoming Entrepreneurs
AILA welcomed the issuance of a proposed rule from USCIS on immigrant entrepreneurs with AILA President Bill Stock noting that this step is one that “AILA has been advocating for years as we saw countless missed opportunities for entrepreneurs due to outdated immigration laws.”
Hearing Echoes from the Last Refugee Crisis Today
The United States and Europe are facing the worst refugee global migration crisis since World War II. Estimates are that there are more than 60 million refugees worldwide. Every day that we fail to step up and address this issue leaves more refugees at risk of grave and imminent danger, not only for