Immigration law is an integral part of America’s past, present, and future.

Blog: Think Immigration

We believe that immigration law is an integral part of America’s past, present and future. We also know that immigration law is complicated. Here you’ll find experts writing in an accessible way about immigration issues, from big, broad ideas down to specific cases. Our members bring knowledge they’ve gleaned from the daily practice of immigration law to this space and offer their expertise to readers.

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AILA Blog

Think Immigration: A Look Inside DHS’ Family Expedited Removal Management Program

AILA Law Student Member Araceli Garcia describes how University of Texas Law students were able to help families in the expedited removal program and how the expansion of the FERM program has meant the need for counsel has only grown.

3/13/24 AILA Doc. No. 24031300. Asylum, Expedited Removal, Removal & Relief
AILA Blog

Think Immigration: Customer Service Chronicles: Tracking USCIS’s Implementation of AILA’s 2021 Recommendations

AILA’s Paul Stern and Jonathan Valdez share insights into the new policy brief they developed to track the status of AILA’s 2021 recommendations for the Biden Administration to improve USCIS customer service, the impact on members and their clients, and the work remaining to be done.

3/5/24 AILA Doc. No. 24030504.
AILA Blog

Think Immigration: Magic Mushrooms and Psychedelics are Still a Bad Trip for U.S. Immigration Purposes

AILA member W. Scott Railton discusses the potential consequences of possession or use of “magic mushrooms” for foreign nationals, writing that “Magic mushrooms and psychedelics are moving to the mainstream in some places, but the immigration laws are unlikely to catch up any time soon.”

2/29/24 AILA Doc. No. 24022806.
AILA Blog

Think Immigration: Add that to the Tab – Rising Costs to Tour the United States

The new fee schedule, taking effect April 1, 2024, will have an impact on visas and applications, including those for musicians and artists as Anthony Pawelski shares in this blog post for Think Immigration in which he highlights concerns about the chilling effect higher fees may have.

2/27/24 AILA Doc. No. 24022703.
AILA Blog

Think Immigration: The New Beneficiary-Centric H-1B Registration Process – Good News for Employees, Mixed Bag for Employers

AILA Supervisory Policy and Practice Counsel Michael Turansick breaks down the new H-1B visa registration process which has been significantly updated as USCIS tries to ensure the integrity of the system and a level playing field.

2/22/24 AILA Doc. No. 24022203. Business Immigration, H-1B & H-1B1 Specialty Occupation
AILA Blog

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

AILA member Maurice “Mo“ Goldman shares insights into why it feels the country is moving away from valuing its history as a “nation of immigrants“ and emphasizes the need for immigration attorneys and their clients to share their stories and shift the narrative.

AILA Blog

25 Years Ago the State Department Recognized How Visa Consul and Immigration Counsel Can Work Together in the Visa Application Process

AILA member Liam Schwartz reflects on Department of State cable 99 State 21138 which was spearheaded by the late Stephen K. Fischel; the cable highlights the importance to the visa application process of the working relationship between consular officers and immigration attorneys.

AILA Announcements, AILA Blog

The Mandatory Detention of Unlawful Entrants Seeking Asylum in the United States and the Due Process Protection

AILA Law Journal author Jim Nzoguma Mayua shares more about his article in the Fall 2023 edition of the journal, in which he discusses the legal uncertainty stemming from Supreme Court rulings denying asylum seekers due process protection.

AILA Blog

Is Chevron Dead? Thoughts after Oral Arguments in Relentless, Inc. and Loper Bright Enterprises

Brian Green and Stephen Yale-Loehr describe the recent oral arguments in two SCOTUS cases which could dramatically affect federal agency review; it is yet unclear whether the decisions will hurt or help immigrants when challenging ambiguous agency decisions or interpretations.

AILA Blog

A Bridge We Can All Cross

AILA members César Magaña Linares and Raquel Fernández—a Salvadoran Dreamer with TPS and a second generation Venezuelan American—call for intra-immigrant solidarity.

AILA Blog

SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments on Notice Requirements (Again)

In this blog post, AILA Policy and Practice Counsel Manolasya Perepa describes the recent SCOTUS consolidated oral arguments in Campos-Chavez v. Garland and Garland v. Singh and notes that “issues of improper notice pervade multiple aspects of the immigration system.“

AILA Blog

How the “Internal Enemy” Label Forces Venezuelans to Flee Their Country

AILA Law Journal authors Emercio José Aponte and Andrea Paola Aponte share more about their article in which they discuss how the current authoritarian regime in Venezuela has been violating citizens' human rights and what that means for claims of asylum.

1/19/24 Asylum
AILA Announcements, AILA Blog

Take the First Step and Just Apply for the Maggio Fellowship!

Alejandra Arrieta, the 2023 Maggio Fellowship winner, describes how the fellowship offered opportunities to network and train in immigration law. 2024 fellowship applications are due by February 16.

1/17/24
AILA Blog

No Fault/Technical Reasons: A Chronicle of Misfeasance Exposed

AILA Law Journal author Martin Robles-Avila highlights how a flawed rulemaking process has affected Nonimmigrant Status breaches and a quandary business immigration practitioners often find themselves in determining whether a client is eligible for adjustment of status.

AILA Blog

FOIA Behind the Scenes – How USCIS and DOS Process Immigration-Related Requests

AILA member Alexandra Zaretsky describes how the International Refugee Assistance Project decided to find out how USCIS and the State Department process FOIA requests by filing a “meta-FOIA“ which unearthed some questionable agency policies of potential interest to others.

AILA Blog

New England AILA Members Joined Community and Government in Helping Newcomers

AILA New England Chapter Chair Robin Nice describes the recent successful set of EAD clinics hosted in Massachusetts, where state and federal agencies worked together with local partners and volunteers “to address immigration issues in a cooperative, common sense, humane manner.“

1/8/24 Asylum
AILA Blog

Digging Into One Key Aspect of Refugee Designations

AILA Law Journal author Betsy Fisher shares more about her recent article published in the journal which reflects on the disappointing results she has seen in one kind of humanitarian program: Priority-2 (or P-2) refugee resettlement, and seeks to identify ways to best leverage P-2 resettlement.

1/4/24 Asylum
AILA Blog

Advancing Gender and Sex Equality in Asylum Protections 

AILA Law Journal Author Elaine Wood shares a bit about her article entitled “Persecution Taxonomy: Adding Sex and Gender as Protected Grounds for Asylum“ in which she argues persuasively that revising the applicable language is now imperative to address contemporary concerns.

12/21/23 Asylum
AILA Blog

An Article I Immigration Court

The Honorable Mimi Tsankov, President of the National Association of Immigration Judges, shares brief highlights of her article on the need for an independent Article I immigration court, featured in the Fall 2023 edition of the AILA Law Journal.

12/14/23 Asylum
AILA Blog

What’s Inside the Fall 2023 Edition of the AILA Law Journal?

Editor-in-Chief Cyrus Mehta describes the topics and issues covered in the Fall 2023 edition of the AILA Law Journal, highlighting the set of timely and important articles; the digital edition is available free to AILA members.

12/7/23
AILA Blog

End-of-Year Reflection on the State Department’s FY23 Visa Processing Achievements and What Needs to Be Done Next

AILA Senior Policy Associate Paul Stern shares an end-of-year reflection on how the State Department's visa processing went in Fiscal Year 2023, and lays out the work that remains, including how Congress can help address the delays and backlogs permanently.

AILA Blog

Let’s Put the H-2B Visa Category to Work!

Ally Bolour describes the H-2B visa program, which Congress enacted to meet the demand of U.S. businesses for temporary workers in non-agricultural occupations, and urges specific changes to make the program more effective and responsive to American employers' needs.

AILA Blog

Potential Game-Changer Cases for Immigration Law at SCOTUS

AILA Members and litigation experts Brian Green and Stephen Yale-Loehr describe three SCOTUS cases that could have significant implications for the practice of immigration law; the legitimacy of the current U.S. immigration court system could be undermined depending on the rulings.

AILA Blog

White House EAD Sprint Gives Immigrants in Need a Chance to Earn Their Dignity

NYC Chapter Chair Kushal Patel describes the whirlwind effort bringing together the White House, local government, non-profits, and volunteers to conduct a two-week EAD clinic in New York City to help migrants in shelters apply for work permits.

11/15/23
AILA Blog

Welcome to Your Guide to PERM

Alexander Dgebuadze, longtime editor and author for AILA's Guide to PERM Labor Certification, offers insights into how things have changed over the years and what the latest PERM updates mean for you and your clients.

11/1/23