Lawmakers on Capitol Hill Heard from AILA Loud and Clear, but there is More to Do!
AILA Associate Director of Government Relations Diane Rish reflects on AILA’s National Day of Action and shares how AILA members and the public can continue making their voices heard on important immigration law and policy issues that matter to them.
The Deportation Machine Destroys Lives
Kate Voigt, chief editor of AILA’s new report, Cogs in the Deportation Machine, highlights how “the administration has gone to great lengths to deport as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, with little regard for the financial cost or the impact upon American communities.”
Combatting a War on the Christmas Spirit
The holidays are here, which supposedly make up the most wonderful time of the year. This year, the president has thrown in with Christmas in a big way, claiming that he has brought Christmas back and it’s “bigger and better than ever.” I’m not sure it was missing necessarily, but an emphasis on joy and generosity would be well worth it these days. Unfortunately, missing from this presidential proclamation is the actual SPIRIT of Christmas as more and more families and communities are ripped apart by harsh enforcement policies.
Hardline Immigration Policies Keep Running into Legal Trouble
On November 20, 2017, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, issued a nationwide permanent injunction blocking the federal government’s attempt to strip so-called “sanctuary cities” of federal funding. Judge William Orrick ruled the executive order unconstitutional, in violation of the Fifth and 10th Amendments. Explaining the severe due process violations, Judge Orrick stated, “the Executive Order’s vague language does not make clear what conduct it proscribes or give jurisdictions a reasonable opportunity to avoid its penalties.” Judge Orrick also highlighted President Trump’s motives for crafting this executive order stating, “The President has called it ‘a weapon’ to use against jurisdictions that disagree with his preferred policies of immigration enforcement.”
When Law Professors Attack: Four False Assumptions in the WSJ Op-Ed
Apparently, it is now fashionable to blame immigration lawyers for the ills of the U.S. immigration system. It started in October when Attorney General Jeff Sessions, railed against the “dirty immigration lawyers,” baselessly charging that they are exploiting...
Getting Through the Reinstatement Maze
It often seems like the deck is stacked against our clients, particularly when the government uses tools like reinstatement of removal that are complex to defend against. Reinstatement sounds simple, but in practice the government can mistakenly apply it or fail to...
On Immigration, It’s Time to Start Listening to Each Other
When it comes to civil dialogue, we are living in a low moment in our nation’s history. Honest debates that yield real solutions to our common problems seem like a quaint notion—and that disturbs me. As the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers...
IJ Performance Quotas: A Threat to Due Process and Judicial Independence
On October 12, 2017, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration seeks to impose numeric quotas on immigration judges as part of their performance evaluations. Speeding up deportation proceedings without regard to the impact on due process and judicial...
Temporary Protected Status for Sudanese Ending – Dust Off Those Case Files
Last month the administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Sudan, effective November 2, 2018. The September 18 announcement stated that Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke had “determined that conditions in Sudan no...
Liberty and Due Process for Immigrants in the SCOTUS Lineup, Part 2
In this special two-part Think Immigration blog, Mary Kramer, author of Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity: A Guide to Representing Foreign Born Defendants, is joined by Michael Vastine and Sui Chung, co-authors of AILA’s upcoming book, Winning on Paper....
