Why Immigration Lawyers Should Care about the TRAP Act – It Will Address INTERPOL Abuse
AILA Member Sandra Grossman highlights the efforts in Congress to address the abuse of INTERPOL Red Notices in the U.S. immigration context and urges support for the TRAP Act which would move INTERPOL to improve transparency and deter abuse of their system.
Prepping for the Next Debate: Where the Candidates Stand on Immigration
Greg Chen and Cara Pavlak highlight the positions of the Democratic presidential candidates on immigration and encourage readers to use the AILA 2020 Election Guide, and the accompanying social media toolkit, to engage on immigration during the debate.
Disturbing Lack of Transparency Implicates Government Data Reliability
AILA Member Alison Griffith describes the recent concerns regarding the reliability of EOIR immigration court data received via FOIA and urges people to contact Congress about the need for EOIR to share accurate data upon which the public depends.
Standing Up for Immigrants in the Midst of an Immigration Crackdown
Karen Lucas, director of the Immigration Justice Campaign, highlights the incredible impact that pro bono help can have, writing, “Immigration attorneys…attorneys from different areas of law…and volunteers from other fields altogether, have made an immense—often lifesaving—difference.
Ten Destructive Measures Advanced Under USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli
In this blog post, AILA Policy Counsel Jason Boyd highlights ten measures undertaken by USCIS’s Acting Director which “constitute an abandonment of USCIS’s duty to fairly and efficiently facilitate legal immigration” and urges Congress to hold the agency fully accountable.
You Are the World’s Heroes
AILA Member Andrea Martinez recently participated in a Netflix Docuseries “Living Undocumented” and in this blog post she shares the key takeaways from conversations with viewers, namely that audiences feel that the work of immigration attorneys is important, difficult, necessary, and yes, heroic.
Amicus Committee Supports Virginia Asylum Applicant Seeking In-State Tuition
In this blog post, AILA Amicus Committee member Sabrina Damast highlights the impact of amicus efforts, describing them in the context of a case affecting in-state tuition in Virginia for someone in the asylum backlog.
Searching for Fairness and Transparency – A Firsthand Look at the Port Courts in Laredo and Brownsville
This week, AILA staff Laura Lynch and Leidy Perez-Davis are on the ground to observe and learn about the newly opened “port courts” which they are describing as a “Due process disaster in the making” – follow along all week for updates!
The Trump Administration’s Recent Efforts to Undermine Asylum, Explained
AILA member Catha (Nikki) Lyons describes how the administration’s “Asylum Ban 2.0” is contrary to both domestic and international laws and encourages other lawyers to do their best to inform and educate the public about U.S. laws.
How to Shrink the USCIS Backlog in One Minute or Less
USCIS leadership recently testified about a backlog reduction plan which, AILA Policy Counsel Jason Boyd argues, would simply move the goalposts and not solve the backlog at all, writing “We deserve a USCIS that rises to its processing time goals, not one that runs from them.”