Why You Need to be in D.C. Next Month
The actions and rhetoric throughout the first weeks of the Trump Administration have placed immigration at the top of the national agenda. Beginning with the three Executive Orders the first week, followed by the chaos at the airports due to the Muslim/refugee ban,...
Reactions to the President’s Joint Address to Congress
Several members of AILA’s Executive Committee share their reactions to President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress on February 28, 2017: “We agree that we have to restore integrity and the rule of law to our borders, and especially to the agencies responsible for...
Standing Firm Against Discrimination
The past 100+ hours have certainly been the most tumultuous we as immigration practitioners have seen in a long while. I could write another article or blog post about how many concerns we as lawyers have with the Executive Orders (EO) or how they were abruptly rolled...
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...
The Pro Bono Clinic: Nuts and Bolts
You may know that there’s a lot that goes into a pro bono clinic. But planning the AILA Annual Conference Pro Bono Clinic takes it to another level. Here are some insights on the planning and logistics of this year’s event, sharing what we learned at the AC for anyone...
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...
Traitor? Not So Much.
I was called a traitor, twice, in less than an hour today. It’s not the first time in my role as AILA’s Executive Director that I’ve been called that, but it still offends. The fallacies about immigrants, about the undocumented, about our borders and our government’s...
Let’s Dance
This blog post is adapted from the speech I gave when I was installed as AILA’s President for the 2014-15 term. I was thrilled to be able to reflect at the Annual Conference hosted by my home chapter, the New England Chapter of AILA. New England is where I found...
Getting a Little Serious about the Need for Immigration Reform
This is a post adapted from my speech last week in accepting an award from AILA for outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law. While the occasion was a happy one and I was honored to receive that award, I took the...
Face-to-Face Meetings Make a Difference with the Media
Talking on the phone is great. E-mail can be incredibly convenient. But nothing beats a face-to-face meeting. That’s the motto Leslie Holman and I were living by as we went from one meeting to another at a pretty rapid fire pace this past Monday and Tuesday during...
