For position papers on immigration subjects (select the "For the Press" icon on the left side of the page) and for the latest addition of Immigrants Action Alert, please visit AILA's home page at www.aila.org.

AILA Backgrounder

Balancing Security and Efficiency at U.S. Ports of Entry

"On March 1, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took over the responsibility for port of entry inspection functions (with the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service). At that time, the goal of implementing this consolidation became a reality. However, the challenges to effective consolidation are many."

AILA Issue Papers

America's Borders: Balancing Our Security and Economic Needs

"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took over operations at our nation's ports of entry and along our borders on March 1, 2003. The DHS must address the challenge of enhancing our security while facilitating the flow of legitimate cross-border travel and trade necessary for our nation's economic survival."

AILA Issue Papers

Immigration and the Department of Homeland Security

"On November 25, 2002, President Bush signed into law The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PL 107-296) which created the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This department, which gained Cabinet-level status on January 24, 2003, merged 22 agencies with 170,000 employees. The former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was merged into this new agency on March 1, 2003, and the new department is now in charge of this nation’s immigration functions."

AILA Issue Papers

State and Local Enforcement of Federal Immigration Law

"The Department of Justice (DOJ) has prepared a legal opinion that reverses a long standing agency interpretation by taking the position that states and localities, as sovereign entities, have the “inherent authority” to enforce federal immigration laws, including civil violations of immigration law."

AILA Backgrounder

Access to Counsel

"Access to Counsel is a hallmark of our democracy. Unfortunately, many noncitizens are now being denied this access at our nation’s ports of entry and in the interior. The government’s immigration policies have changed rapidly and dramatically in the post-9/11 era, triggering serious concerns about the infringement of immigrants’ fundamental rights."

AILA Issue Papers

Executive Actions Threaten Fundamental Freedoms

"The Administration, since September 11, 2001, has initiated new policies and practices that roll back fundamental protections and jeopardize basic freedoms. Many of these initiatives, while being of questionable worth in enhancing our security, erode our constitutional guarantees and protections."

AILA Issue Papers

Student Adjustment for Deserving Children

"Children in the U.S. each year are prevented from pursuing their dreams of going to college because they have no legal status. Despite the fact that many of these children have grown up in the U.S., attended local schools, and have demonstrated a sustained commitment to learn English and succeed in our educational system, our immigration laws provide no avenue for these students to become legal."

Statement of the American Immigration Lawyers Association
In Opposition to Special Registration 

"AILA condemns acts of terrorism and is committed to working with our nation's leaders to enhance our security. However, this measure is a false solution to a real problem because it will not enhance our security."

AILA Issue Paper

Immigration, Security, and Civil Liberties

Posted on AILA InfoNet at Doc. No. 21ip2001

THE ISSUE: Both Congress and the Administration have taken steps to greatly expand the power of government in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Many of these initiatives fail to achieve the appropriate balance between enhanced security and our Constitutional guarantees and protections. While our nation is facing many challenges, we must not compromise our freedoms as we strive to enhance our security. Doing so will damage our liberty here and our credibility in the world.

AILA Issue Paper

Restricting Immigrant Access to Driver's Licenses

Posted on AILA InfoNet at Doc. No. 21IP2003

THE ISSUE:  The U.S. Congress and state legislatures recently have begun considering measures to restrict immigrants' access to driver's licenses.  These proposals go well beyond denying undocumented immigrants access to drivers' licenses and are likely to effect legal immigrants and even U.S. citizens.  While intended to increase national security, these measures will not enhance our security but will interfere with effective law enforcement.

AILA Backgrounder on Social Security and Immigration

Social Security and Immigration 

Posted on AILA InfoNet at Doc. No. 38IP2004

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is undertaking several activities that negatively impact immigrant communities nationwide.  These actions could drive undocumented workers underground at the very time that our need to enhance national security highlights the importance of maintaining accurate records of foreign nationals in our country, conducting background checks to separate contributing individuals from those that may be here to do us harm, and utilizing immigrants' cultural and community knowledge to increase our intelligence capacity.  

DOJ Opinion on State and Local Police Enforcing Immigration Laws Bodes Ill for Law Enforcement and Communities 

THE ISSUE: The Department of Justice appears poised to issue a legal opinion that states and localities, as sovereign entities have the inherent authority to enforce federal immigration laws. Such an opinion conflicts with long-standing legal tradition that immigration is a federal matter. It also will encourage state and local law enforcement, with little or no training and stretched resources, to attempt to enforce laws about which they have little understanding. States and localities are ill served when their police attempt to enforce immigration laws.

Restore Fairness and Due Process: 1996 Immigration Laws Go Too Far

THE ISSUE: In 1996, the 104th Congress passed and the President signed into law the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). Touted as legislation that would control illegal immigration, IIRAIRA and AEDPA actually include many provisions that significantly affect American families, legal immigrants and others seeking to enter the United States legally.

Changing the Registry Date

THE ISSUE: For more than seventy years our immigration laws have included a provision called "registry" that gives immigrants who have continuously resided in the United States since the registry date an opportunity to adjust their status.

Equity of Relief

THE ISSUE: Amendments to U.S. immigration law provide substantial relief from deportation for nationals of certain countries, while leaving nationals of other countries, who have suffered under similar political and economic conditions, without the possibility for comparable relief.

Mandatory & Indefinite Detention: Immigrants Detained and American Families Pay the Price

THE ISSUE: The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA) amended the Immigration and Nationality Act by mandating that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detain nearly all immigrants who have committed a crime.

Section 245(i): A Matter of Family Unity and Common Sense

THE ISSUE: Section 245(i) is a vital provision of U.S. immigration law, allowing some immigrants on the brink of becoming permanent residents to apply for their green cards in the United States, rather than returning to their home countries to apply.

Essential Workers Keep the Economy Growing

What are Essential Workers?

“Essential Workers” are the unskilled and semi-skilled workers ... who often work in the jobs that many Americans do not choose, but which are “essential” to keep our economy and our country growing.