Top 10 AILA Videos and Blog Posts of 2017
A quick recap of the most viewed videos and most read blog posts this year, covering a variety of topics from H-1Bs to MAVNI to the latest travel ban updates and more. There is truly something for everyone; take a look at these resources as you reflect on 2017.
read moreLawyering in an Ever-Changing Landscape
With the Trump administration making clear that it is taking aim at immigration and immigrants, and the lawyers that help them access due process, we practitioners find ourselves in a period of great uncertainty. We are facing an administration that is making changes...
read moreGratitude for America and the Hands that Built it
Thinking back on Thanksgiving from when I was a child, I remember being told by my parents and teachers to be grateful for what I had, including living in the United States. But as a kid, the meaning of “how lucky I was to live in the U.S.” wasn’t easy to comprehend....
read moreFighting for the Underdog
Some of Hollywood’s most iconic films have featured an “underdog” plot: a protagonist facing impossible odds who proves victorious through greater tenacity and determination. This is certainly a theme our immigrant clients and immigration law practices can relate to,...
read moreIn the Midst of Chaos, Where is Our Lifeline?
Mother Nature hit Puerto Rico hard with Hurricane Maria. Regardless of the deadline for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewals and irrespective of the need for immigration lawyers to respond to Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Mother Nature wins out. But...
read moreRisk 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...
read moreTime to Reboot the DHS SAVE System
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a vitally important system called “Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements” (SAVE). But often it is not used properly and many suffer the consequences. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shines a...
read moreThere’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. ...
read moreAn 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...
read moreOne 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,...
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