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ICE Targets Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Offering Payment for Deportation

Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · 6d

"Advocates have urged immigrants, especially children, not to sign any documents that attempt to threaten or incentivize children to waive their rights without first seeking legal advice." https://bit.ly/4pTEtt1

ICE confirmed its plan to pay unaccompanied immigrant children in exchange for their agreement to be deported.

Policy Brief: Policies Targeting Skilled Workers and Students Crush American Innovation and Harm our Economy

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · 6d

Late yesterday, trusted sources warned that an effort to threaten the security of unaccompanied children between the ages of 14-18 might start today. We do not have confirmed reports that this effort is underway, but we continue to monitor the situation.

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Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · 7d

The Trump administration's immigration policies targeting highly skilled immigrants threatens to weaken the U.S. economy through undercutting innovation and not providing ample opportunity for potential talent to stay and contribute. New AILA policy brief: bit.ly/42JzjWL

The Trump administration's immigration policies targeting highly skilled immigrants threatens to weaken the U.S. economy through undercutting innovation and not providing ample opportunity for potenti...

Practice Alert: What Happens When the Government Shuts Down

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · 8d

Government Shutdown and Immigration: Immigration enforcement continues unabated, while some other areas are affected; here is @aila.org's updated resource about impacts on immigration law and policy.

AILA National shares information on how federal agencies may be affected as a result of the government shutdown. This page will continue to be updated as more information is received.

Think Immigration: Zealously Representing Clients in the Face of Trump Administration Attacks

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Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · 16d

AILA Past President Kathleen Campbell Walker on #ThinkImmigration: USCIS’s new enforcement authority disrupts the long-standing separation between benefits adjudication and enforcement, creating complex challenges for immigration lawyers and their clients. https://bit.ly/42KeJVQ

AILA Past President Kathleen Campbell Walker describes how the Trump Administration's rapid changes to immigration agency policies, such as arming USCIS agents, combined with 'eviscerating existing lo...

AILA: Trump Administration H-1B Crackdown and “Gold Card” Visa Imperil Jobs, Innovation, and Rural Healthcare

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · 19d

There was no legitimate reason to terrorize H-1B workers and alarm their employers causing 24 hours of panic. The failure to provide a legally sound proclamation and the haphazard messaging caused unnecessary chaos and fear along with human and material cost.

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · 20d

These announcements attempt to rewrite laws created by Congress, which clearly established the parameters and purpose of the H-1B program and employment-based green cards, their fees, and the formal process for making changes. It will not stand up in court.

AILA @aila.org · 20d

NEW: President Trump signed a proclamation restricting H-1B visas, requiring U.S. employers to pay a $100,000 fee per H-1B & issued an executive order for his 'Gold Card' visa. AILA leadership responds: "If we push this talent away, America will lose." https://bit.ly/4nz1XBE

AILA President Jeff Joseph and ED Ben Johnson responded to the Trump Administration attempting to apply a new $100,000 fee to H-1Bs and supplant existing visa programs with a “Gold Card” visa, noting ...

Think Immigration: Excluding International Students Hurts Agency Efficiency and the National Economy

Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · 22d

AILA Policy & Practice Associate Mariah Ferguson details how changes to policies affecting international students will hurt agency efficiency, institutions of higher education, American students & the national economy on today’s #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/4nCs6Q0

AILA Policy and Practice Associate Mariah Ferguson details how the changes to policies affecting international students will not only affect the students themselves, but also agency efficiency, instit...

60 violations in 50 days: Inside ICE’s giant tent facility at Ft. Bliss

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · 23d

This Washington Post story documents the lack of due process and access to counsel as well as unsafe and inhumane conditions at Ft. Bliss/Camp East Montana - share this piece with your networks and speak out against these abuses. Congress needs to act.

As the Trump Administration rushes to open massive makeshift holding centers nationwide, one former official called the list of violations at Fort Bliss among the worst she’s ever seen.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · Sep 10

This month marks the 20th anniversary of AILA Citizenship Day! Our members have helped change lives and foster community through this important and inspiring pro bono effort. There is still time to get involved, find out how on #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/48b0kWl

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Sep 9

Every American should be gravely concerned that the nation’s highest court has given a green light to racial profiling.

AILA @aila.org · Sep 9

“This Supreme Court decision upends the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee that all Americans will be free from arbitrary targeting by law enforcement” @ailaexecdir.bsky.social responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing indiscriminate immigration enforcement in LA.

AILA Executive Director: SCOTUS Allows Indiscriminate Immigration Enforcement for Now

AILA ED Ben Johnson responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing the Trump Administration to continue its indiscriminate immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, noting that "Every American should...

AILA: BIA’s Decision Ignores Decades of Precedent, Stripping Immigration Judges of Bond Authority

Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Sep 8

For 30 years, across 5 Presidents, the “plain language” of the statute at issue was universally read to hold the opposite of this new ruling. The only thing that has changed is the increasing willingness of the immigration courts to follow Donald Trump instead of the law.

AILA @aila.org · Sep 8

NEW: AILA President Jeff Joseph and @ailaexecdir.bsky.social Ben Johnson respond to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)'s decision stripping immigration judges of bond authority, ignoring decades of precedent. www.aila.org/library/bia-...

AILA President Jeff Joseph and Executive Director Ben Johnson respond to the BIA decision in <em>Matter of Yajure Hurtado</em> noting that "This decision will put billions of taxpayer dollars in the p...

Trump Administration Continues Dystopian Shift of USCIS to Enforcement Agency with Armed Agents

Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Sep 4

This alarming development is another example of the administration’s singular focus of creating a hostile environment for all immigrants and their attorneys. Instead of solutions for the American people, they are closing America’s doors to the world.

AILA @aila.org · Sep 4

NEW: AILA leadership expresses deep concern as the Trump Administration plans to train and arm agents at USCIS. Read the full statement from President Jeff Joseph and Executive Director Ben Johnson. https://bit.ly/41BPg0z

AILA President Jeff Joseph and AILA ED Ben Johnson respond to Trump Administration plans to train and arm agents at USCIS; Jeff Joseph noted they have “transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, we...

AILA Executive Director: Trump Administration Further Erodes Immigration Courts

Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Sep 2

In this latest destructive move to undermine the immigration courts, the Trump Administration is reviving a long-abandoned rule to allow temporary immigration judges with no background in immigration law.

AILA @aila.org · Sep 2

AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson responds to the Trump admin. eliminating the requirement that temporary immigration judges possess knowledge of immigration law & moving DoD attorneys over as judges: “It makes as much as sense as having a cardiologist do a hip replacement.” https://bit.ly/47pXSuP

AILA ED Ben Johnson responded to news that just days after the Trump Administration issued a final rule eliminating the requirement that temporary immigration judges possess knowledge of immigration law, DoD Secretary Hegseth approved using up to 600 mi...

Think Immigration: Citizenship as a Weapon: Is Denaturalization an Increasing Threat?

Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · Sep 2

New on #ThinkImmigration, AILA member Gunda Brost considers the future of denaturalization as an immigration enforcement priority in the wake of the Trump administration's June 2025 memo. https://bit.ly/466n2fH

Gunda Brost, Past Chair of the AILA IA-NE Chapter, describes how citizenship and denaturalization have been used by nations over human history and what the new actions around denaturalization efforts ...

Trump administration can lift deportation protections for thousands from Afghanistan and Cameroon, court says

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 22

A federal court just let the Trump admin move forward with ending TPS for Afghans and Cameroonians despite unsafe conditions and U.S. travel warnings. Stripping protections now puts lives at risk. This is cruel, calculated harm.

An appellate court allowed the Trump administration to end a program that grants temporary deportation protections and work permits to more than 10,000 people from Afghanistan and Cameroon.

www.cbsnews.com

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 18

See also:

State Department enacts widespread layoffs, cutting 1,353 staff as part of reorganization

The involuntary staff reductions include 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service employees, according to a notice sent to employees Friday morning.

www.cbsnews.com

Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 18

The mass firings of immigration judges and State Dept. personnel are reckless. Backlogs will grow, legal immigration will slow, and the U.S. has lost invaluable talent and experience across the globe. This is sabotage, not strategy.

More immigration judges are being fired amid Trump's efforts to speed up deportations

Several more immigration judges have been fired, even as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement, and after Congress gave the Department of Justice $3 billion, in part to hire judges...

www.npr.org

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 10

The fight to protect the 14th Amendment isn’t over: A federal judge blocked Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship nationwide, allowing the case to proceed as a class action. Though there's much work to be done, this is a win for constitutional rights.

Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order in Class-Action Challenge

www.nytimes.com

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 10

SCOTUS has rejected Florida’s emergency request to enforce barring undocumented immigrants from entering the state. Congratulations to the AILA members and partners in Florida who fought against this harmful law.

Supreme Court blocks part of Florida's immigration law

Immigrant rights organizations sued the state arguing that its new law conflicts with federal immigration law, and under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, states must bow to federal law in the eve...

www.npr.org

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 8

Ending TPS for nearly 80,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans after 25 years is cruel. These families have built lives, contributed to communities, and known no other home. Stripping their protection dishonors our humanitarian values.

DHS ends Temporary Protected Status for thousands from Nicaragua and Honduras

Some 76,000 people from Nicaragua and Honduras were covered by TPS, which provides protection from deportation and grants work permits to people from certain nations affected by war or natural disaste...

www.npr.org

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Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 3

America deserves an immigration system that reflects our values and our interests, not one that undermines the rule of law and weaponizes enforcement against our own neighbors. This is unacceptable. The American people must hold those in Congress who passed this bill to account.

AILA @aila.org · Jul 3

AILA condemns the passage of the reconciliation bill. This legislation fails our nation on every front and abandons critical efforts to address backlogs in the legal immigration system while creating needless barriers to a functional immigration system.

AILA Executive Director Laments Passage of Reconciliation Bill

In this statement, AILA strongly condemned the passage of the reconciliation bill, which represents a stunning failure to uphold American values and priorities; AILA ED Ben Johnson stated, “This bill ...

US judge blocks Trump asylum ban at US-Mexico border, says he exceeded authority

Ben Johnson @ailaexecdir.bsky.social · Jul 2

Judge Moss’s ruling is a powerful reminder: executive power has limits. The asylum system exists to protect the vulnerable and not to be discarded in moments of political theater. We applaud this decision.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump's asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying Trump exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Ben Johnson

AILA @aila.org · Jul 1

READ our statement: AILA Denounces Passage of Draconian Immigration Spending Bill: A $150 Billion Blueprint for Mass Deportation and Fear

AILA Denounces Passage of Draconian Immigration Spending Bill: A $150 Billion Blueprint for Mass Deportation and Fear

AILA ED Ben Johnson responded to the Senate budget reconciliation bill passage: “AILA urges the public, legal community, and policymakers to resist this dangerous shift toward an enforcement-only syst...