American Immigration Lawyers Association

WASHINGTON, DC, June 11, 2018 – Today, the Attorney General issued a precedent decision in a case that he referred to himself. In the decision, he vacated the Board of Immigration Appeal’s (BIA) decision in Matter of A- B and announced that in his view, domestic violence victims and other victims of crimes perpetrated by […]

WASHINGTON, DC, May 17, 2018 – Today, in a precedent decision, the Attorney General of the United States announced that immigration judges and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals no longer have the authority to “administratively close” court cases before them, with the exception of cases that meet very narrow criteria. With this move, […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. April 23, 2018 – In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council received a partially redacted report written by Booz Allen Hamilton and commissioned by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). The comprehensive report investigated a range of immigration […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. April 3, 2018 – The Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), has instituted strict quotas as part of immigration judges’ individual performance evaluations, a shift that strips away the independence held by judges who are making high stakes decisions about whether a person will be deported. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. March 21, 2018 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) today released a new report, “Deconstructing the Invisible Wall: How Policy Changes by the Trump Administration are Slowing and Restricting Legal Immigration.” Highlighted by real-life case examples, the report describes the broad array of immigration-related policy and procedural changes that have been implemented […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. March 14, 2018- The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) today released a new report detailing how the Trump administration has systematically increased enforcement, using harsh, indiscriminate methods to deport thousands of families, asylum seekers, and people who have lived and worked for years in the United States. AILA President Annaluisa Padilla said, “With […]

WASHINGTON, DC, March 7, 2018 -Five leading immigrant and civil rights organizations issued a joint report today detailing the illegalities inherent in each of the U.S. government’s repeated attempts to enlist local law enforcement authorities to arrest and detain people on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The report, Assumption of Risk: Legal […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 23, 2018 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) expresses its deep disappointment at the Trump administration’s rewrite of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) mission statement to, among other things, remove the phrase “a nation of immigrants.” “Removing words in the USCIS mission statement cannot change the proud history […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 16, 2018 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) expressed deep disappointment in the failure of the Senate to pass commonsense reforms to protect Dreamers. At the same time, AILA commends the many Senators who stood firm against the nativist voices demanding legislation to gut legal immigration and make our country weaker. […]

WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 8, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) urged Congress and the President to pass the Dream Act before the December holidays. Failing to act will hurt Dreamers, their families, and the businesses and communities that depend on them. “Since the disastrous decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals […]

WASHINGTON, DC November 21, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) denounced the decision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 58,000 Haitian nationals, effective July 22, 2019. A country may be designated for TPS when conditions resulting from a natural disaster, civil conflict, or other […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 4, 2017- The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) condemned reported plans that the Trump Administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program with a six-month enforcement delay. This decision would leave the lives and dreams of nearly 800,000 hardworking DACA recipients hanging from the thread of an unspecified, hoped-for […]

WASHINGTON, DC, July 12, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) strongly opposes the funding bill released by the House Appropriations Committee, which would focus on massive increases in immigration enforcement and border security and result in the deportation of thousands of undocumented people with children, family and other strong ties to the United […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. June 29, 2017 – Today, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), urged lawmakers to oppose two bills slated to be taken up this week by the House of Representatives: the “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” (H.R. 3003) and “Kate’s Law” (H.R. 3004). AILA President Annaluisa Padilla noted, “In one fell swoop, these mean-spirited […]

WASHINGTON, DC May 17, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) urges the House Judiciary Committee to move away from cruel, costly, and ineffective “enforcement-only” immigration reform; none of the bills being discussed at Thursday’s hearing will make our country safer. The bills include the “Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of […]

WASHINGTON, DC, March 16, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomed the issuance of two temporary restraining orders from the U.S. District Courts in Hawaii and Maryland, halting implementation of key parts of President Trump’s revised Executive Order, issued March 6, 2017, which would temporarily ban Muslims and refugees from travel and admission […]

WASHINGTON, DC, March 6, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) denounced President Trump’s rewritten Executive Order, which is again based on the false premise that barring Muslims and refugees from coming to America will make the country safer. The ban was revised in an effort to get around the court orders that blocked […]

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 22, 2017 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) condemned the recently released Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos that set forth a series of aggressive enforcement tactics to be rolled out on a massive scale. These policies, if implemented as written, will trample due process. AILA President William A. Stock noted, […]

Aug. 29, 2016 – AILA  has issued an immigration policy update to serve as a backgrounder on current immigration law and policy as they relate to creating a legalization program. The political debate on immigration this week was dominated by questions of whether Donald Trump is changing his position on immigration or simply softening his […]