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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A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 6
I last visited E- on Saturday, May 2nd; sadly, we met again at Karnes, the scene of all prior visits. It was, I think, our twelfth meeting, and our first since the IJ's oral decision back on April 13th. E- was initially crushed by the decision, to the point where she couldn't bear the thought [
Borderland Preservation or Destruction?
If you can look past the ugly politics in Arizona, it is truly a beautiful place to live and work. I have resided in Tucson, Arizona, for most of my life and there are times when I'll be driving, hiking or running in the surrounding wilderness and the scenery is breathtaking. The saguaro cactus, the
Punch Line Material
Three cheers to Daniel M. Gerstein and Martina L. Melliand for their story (The forgotten cornerstone in the immigration reform debate) in The Hill yesterday regarding the forgotten child in the immigration reform debate: the immigration court. We hear endless stories about increased funding for ICE
Without Good Counsel
On April 21, 2015 - a Harvard University graduate student, Rebekah Rodriguez-Lynn, published a column in the Los Angeles Daily News titled: “How U.S. immigration laws helped tear my family apart.“ Ms. Rodriguez-Lynn is a U.S. citizen and a resident of Southern California; she shares her story
The Queer Community’s Road to Equality
In June 2013, SCOTUS helped turn a page in the queer community's struggle for civil rights. By striking a pertinent portion of the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the Justices cleared the way for LGBTQ citizens of this country to strive for full equality under the law - in all 50 states
Fighting to #EndFamilyDetention
I was on a flight to San Antonio Sunday morning and a short while after that was making my way across open farmland to Dilley, Texas, about an hour and half southeast. For this week, I'll be heading up a team of legal volunteers for CARA at the euphemistically named “South Texas Family Residential C
148,000 Missed Opportunities
I'm just now fully coming out of the chaotic, hectic darkness that has clouded every H-1B season for the past many years. Once again, I find myself struggling with “Immigration PTSD“ - Post Traumatic Submission Disorder. The cause of this syndrome is two-fold. First, I live with the dreade
Don’t Ignore the Ethics
Judge Hanen recently refused to lift his injunction blocking the implementation of the president's expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as well as the new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program. Many are following the case closely, no surprise, as it has im
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 5
Just as the business day was drawing to a close on Monday, April 13th, we received a phone call from IJ Martinez. Unfortunately, the news was disappointing and devastating for E-. While the IJ found her credible and noted for the record that the rape she suffered amounts to torture, he determined
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 4
ICE officials at Karnes never responded concerning our request to consider E-‘s release on humanitarian grounds. So, as anticipated, it was back to San Antonio for the hearing on Tuesday, April 7th. I got into town the previous Friday night and then drove down to Karnes on Saturday, Sunday and Mon
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 3
After several trips to Karnes, I got to know one client's case fairly well. It was and continues to be an education. I'll refer to the client as E-H-. E-H-‘s case is “withholding only,“ which as I learned means that she's not eligible to apply for asylum because of a prior removal. That rem
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 2
On to Karnes With only the Artesia episode as a guide, I arrived in San Antonio this past January 11th, once again not really knowing what to expect. The two experiences were very different. Whereas in Artesia the volunteers worked 16 to 18 hours every day, including weekends, to serve a detainee
Why AILA Needs to Reincorporate, and Why Your Vote Counts
On Friday April 17, 2015, AILA will hold a special members meeting in Washington D.C. where members can discuss the proposed move from New York to D.C., and vote on these resolutions either by direct vote at the meeting, or by proxy. Receipt of electronic proxies closes on Friday, April 17, at noo
A Look Back to Artesia, and a Look into Karnes: Part 1
Family detention. Artesia. Karnes / Dilley. A year ago these were mere words. Sadly, that's no longer the case. All of us volunteers have seen the families incarcerated at these facilities and we refuse to give up on them as our government seems to want us to do. I wanted to share some of that ex
“Today, I’m Leaving Here.”
My client's 8-year-old daughter told me that, as she hugged me goodbye and left for school, so that I could prepare her mom for their individual hearing on March 31, 2015. One week later, after being detained approximately 9 months (since July 5, 2014) - first in Artesia, New Mexico, and then in Kar
“I’m afraid to ask them for any medicine.”
I asked Guadalupe* what she meant by that - she had been on medication for anxiety and depression in her home country of Mexico. She was afraid to tell the medical staff when she got to the South Texas Family Detention Center that she took medication, because she thought it would make her look weak
An Impossible Amount, an Impossible Burden
As a volunteer attorney at the Dilley, Texas, family detention center, I've seen many children and their mothers come to me for help, seeking a way to gain asylum in the U.S. and finally have a safe place to raise their children, free from fear. One such example is an indigenous woman from Guatemala
A Silent Crisis: Children Experiencing Trauma in Family Detention
During my week as a volunteer attorney in San Antonio, I visited with a mother and child at the Karnes family detention center who had been transferred from the Artesia detention center when it closed. The mother and her young son had already been detained for seven months, and I was helping to pr
AILA: Welcome Changes to Business Visas but Implementation Means Everything
AILA President Leslie A. Holman welcomed the draft of the long-awaited policy memo on the L-1B visa category and “the Administration’s recognition that a lack of consistency has been an obstacle to this program’s success.”
AILA: An Agent of Change Paying the Price?
AILA President Leslie A. Holman commented on the report detailing employee complaints about management of the USCIS EB-5 program noting that “While giving voice to resentments and frustrations by some…the report cites no laws or even policies that were violated.”
A Promise Unfulfilled
Last November, President Obama promised reforms to immigration enforcement that focus on actual threats to public safety while keeping immigrant families together. He evoked a more humane enforcement system where resources are not spent jailing vulnerable individuals. One of his November reforms ex
How One Life Was Changed at NDA
National Day of Action (what used to be called “Lobby Day“) is an AILA tradition that goes back a number of years. I've participated many times, and each time it is different. Each time I come out heartened by some Congressional visits, disheartened by others, but always feeling a part of some
Could Negotiated Rulemaking Save H-2B?
Businesses that rely on seasonal, nonagricultural labor have had a hard time recruiting US workers as the economy has improved and overall unemployment and underemployment have fallen. These businesses — from seafood producers in Louisiana, Alaska and Maryland to resorts in Colorado and Maine to lan
AILA: Hearing Should Focus on Important Workforce Needs
AILA President Leslie A. Holman advocated for H-1B visas in advance of tomorrow’s Senate hearing on “Immigration Reforms Needed to Protect Skilled American Workers” which AILA “hopes will examine our nation’s legitimate skilled-worker needs in a balanced and thoughtful way.”
Can a Surge Protector Generate a Spark?
My three Case Western Reserve University School of Law students and I are part of an Ohio and New York volunteer legal team at Dilley, Texas (see photo). I had been to Artesia, and volunteered there, but while there are similarities between the two facilities, there are also differences. The biggest