Liberty and Due Process for Immigrants in the SCOTUS Lineup, Part 1
In this special two-part Think Immigration blog post, 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...
Risk vs. Uncertainty: Advising and Advocating in the New Paradigm
While listening to a Freakonomics podcast recently focusing on John Urschel’s abrupt decision to retire from the NFL., I was intrigued by the discussion of how we make decisions in the face of risk versus uncertainty. By way of explanation, the introduction to the...
Facing the Pro Bono Challenge Head On – One Perspective
Pro bono work is important. But, maybe keeping your practice afloat while following your conscience to increase your pro bono work is something you struggle with, too. Thinking outside the box of pro bono can help you figure out what YOU can do.
Back to School – The Immigrant Experience
Near the end of July 2017, ICE conducted raids across my hometown, Memphis, TN. By the agency’s count, 83 individuals were arrested in a series of raids that occurred in Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans between July 23 and July 26. Not reported in that number is the...
Winning Cases – Good for the Client and the Attorney
Fighting the government is a time-honored tradition for removal attorneys, and often a motivation for joining this field, right?? None of us daydreamed in law school of triumphantly signing joint motions to terminate without prejudice to pursue adjustment of status....
Immigration Lawyers Save Lives
I took part in the AILA Annual Conference training for new chapter chairs, and as an ‘icebreaker,’ was asked to complete phrases handed out on little slips of paper. Mine read, “The best way to save….” I immediately responded, “One way to save a life is to be an immigration lawyer.”
There’s Always More to Learn
When I first began practicing law, I thought I knew everything I could ever need to know about immigration. I’d been a business immigration paralegal for several years before law school and had learned a lot about nonimmigrant visas and employment-based green cards. ...
An Obscure Trump Administration Policy that Needlessly Harms Americans
Laws often have unintended consequences. Sometimes, good government officials adopt interpretations of the law designed to mitigate those unintended consequences. But sometimes, the most anti-immigrant politician in recent memory directs his subordinates to adopt...
One Road to Immigration Law
True confession: I did not take immigration law in law school and I took Latin as my foreign language class. AILA members, reading that, I’m sure you just groaned. But the fact was, I did not become an attorney to practice immigration law. About 20 years ago though,...
The Top Eleven Terrible Things in President Trump’s Budget
There are a lot of things wrong with the President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request. Some of the immigration-related provisions have been mentioned in the press or by advocates, while others are flying relatively unknown under the radar. But they all have one...
