International Law Group, LLP

WASHINGTON, DC (July 9, 2009) - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomes the recommendations released today by an independent and bipartisan task force on immigration at the Council on Foreign Relations. The task force, led by former Governor Jeb Bush (R -FL) and former Clinton Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, presented their recommendations during a panel discussion this morning. The task force warned that the current broken immigration system risks serious damage to U.S. national interests.
"This is a promising sign that comprehensive immigration reform is possible," said Bernie Wolfsdorf, president of AILA. "This proves that the political landscape regarding immigration reform is changing and that consensus is possible across party lines."
The panel also recommended "earned legalization, not amnesty" for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States, requiring those who wish to stay to work, pay taxes, learn English, pass background checks, pay fines and wait their turn behind legal immigrants. It also called for strong border enforcement and a mandatory work document verification system based on fingerprints or eye scans which AILA would support only as part of a comprehensive reform of our immigration laws.

June 25, 2009

Click HERE to view the positive comments made by President Barack Obama and The White House regarding Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

May 20, 2009

Momentum for Immigration Reform Continues to BuildAILA InfoNet Doc. No. 09052030 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, May 20, 2009  

• Sens. Menendez, Gillibrand, Kennedy and Schumer introduce "The Reuniting Families Act" in the Senate
• White House announces meeting on immigration reform with Congressional leaders for June 8

 WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomes several developments today that signal that immigration reform is gaining momentum! 

AILA commends US Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) for introducing legislation today that seeks to restore America's commitment to family unity. The Reuniting Families Act would help legal immigrants reunite with their families and end decade-long waiting times for legal immigrant visas. "This is momentous day for all Americans who understand the dire need for immigration," said Charles H. Kuck, president of AILA. "This important legislation promotes timely reunification of families by recapturing unused visas and eliminating the tragically long family immigration backlogs."  

The legislation would reinforce our commitment to families and reduce current wait times in the family immigration system by: 

• Helping an estimated 322,000 spouses and children under the age of 21 of lawful permanent residents who are waiting in line to reunite with their families by reclassifying them as immediate relatives
• Addressing the decades-long backlogs for certain countries by raising the per-country immigration limits from 7 percent to 10 percent of total admissions
• Protecting widows, widowers and orphans by allowing them to continue to wait in line for a visa after the death of the sponsoring relative.
• Recapturing an estimated 400,000 family-sponsored and employment-based visas that went unused between 1992 and 2007.
• Respecting the contribution of Filipino World War II veterans by reducing their children's waiting times for an immigrant visa.
• Promoting family unity by allowing more people who are already eligible for an immigrant visa to efficiently use our legal family immigration system.
• Providing equal treatment for stepchildren and biological children by allowing stepchildren under the age of 21 to immigrate upon their parents' marriage (current age limit is 18).

 In addition to this important legislation, the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee today launched an aggressive effort to press for passage of comprehensive immigration legislation, with Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer, D-NY, saying conditions are ripe for Congressional action. Schumer also announced an agenda of hearings for the coming months and said he is "cautiously optimistic that we can pass strong, fair, practical and effective immigration reform this year."  

Further, a report released today by the nonpartisan Police Foundation criticized efforts to have local law enforcement agencies enforce federal immigration laws. The group said the report "finds that immigration enforcement by local police undermines their core public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases their exposure to liability and litigation, and exacerbates fear in communities already distrustful of police." 

Also, the National Foundation of American Policy released two studies earlier today. One study titled, "Common Sense, Common Interests," recommends combining fully portable work permits - not tied to a specific employer - with bilateral administrative agreements. The second study, "A Commission to Regulate Immigration? A Bad Idea Whose Time Should Not Come," concludes that creating a commission to establish the annual level of temporary visas and green cards for high and low-skilled workers would result in unaccountable officials with the enormous power to change the law based on little more than their personal preference. 

And finally, the White House today announced that it will hold a high-level meeting with Congressional leaders on June 8th to discuss plans for immigration reform. 

These important developments all keep the momentum building towards an immigration overhaul that is desperately needed by our country. AILA pledges itself to working closely with Congress and the Administration to make sure that immigration reform moves forward to a successful conclusion in the months ahead!

All Signs Point to Immigration Reform this Year:
AILA Optimistic that the President and Congress will Push for CIR this Year
"AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 09043010 (posted Apr. 30, 2009)"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, April 30, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is encouraged by events of the past 24 hours as President Barak Obama renewed his Administration’s pledge to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) announced its intention to recalibrate its worksite enforcement actions to focus more on criminal prosecutions of employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers, and the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship led by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), commenced hearings to examine common sense solutions to fixing America’s broken immigration system.

AILA commends Chairman Schumer for sounding the starting gun with an outstanding first hearing. Two expert-laden panels of witnesses made a highly compelling case – covering the moral, economic, business, labor, security and law enforcement angles - for the need to advance immigration reform legislation this year. “The stars seem to be aligning for a major push toward comprehensive immigration reform this year,” said Charles H. Kuck, president of AILA. “Momentum continues to build as more and more of our elected leaders understand that tackling and solving our current immigration crisis will only help strengthen America’s economy and security. The events over the past two days signal that this Administration and Congress get it and will not let this opportunity to finally bring the nation’s legal immigration system into the 21st century pass them by.”

AILA is pleased that DHS is taking steps to restore balance and rationality in its enforcement priorities. Mr. Kuck expressed hopes that the new DHS statement of policy addresses pivotal due process concerns, saying “a retooling of enforcement activities must, first and foremost, ensure the right to counsel of any employees caught up in these actions, and limit or eliminate the abusive practice of transferring detainees away from their communities, families and attorneys. These are indispensable elements of a fair and just system.”