Legalization

Maria Blanco serves as the Executive Director for the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute at Berkeley Law, University of California. She served as executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a litigator and advocate for immigrant rights, women's rights and racial justice. Blanco is also the co‐chair of the California Coalition for Civil Rights, a group dedicated to building a progressive national agenda for civil and human rights.

• The Lasting Impact of Mendez v. Westminster in the Struggle for Desegregation (IPC Perspectives, March 2010)

Jeffrey Kaye is a Los Angeles‐based freelance journalist. He has been a longtime contributor to the PBS NewsHour and World Report, the public affairs program of HDNet television. Between 1980 and 1984, Kaye was a reporter and senior producer at KCET‐TV (PBS) in Los Angeles. Previously, he worked as a magazine writer, a freelance reporter for National Public Radio, a TV producer, and as a special correspondent for the Washington Post and other publications.

• Deeper into the Shadows: The Unintended Consequences of Immigration Worksite Enforcement (IPC Special Report, February 2011)
• Enforcing Arizona’s SB1070: A State of Confusion (IPC Special Report, July 2010)
• Reliving Our Immigrant Past: From Hazleton to Arizona and Back Again (IPC Perspectives, May 2010)

2012

1. Obtained the release of key documents regarding H-1B fraud investigations by USCIS and DHS.
2. Published new practice advisories that offer strategic insight and advice on timely issues so that immigration attorneys may better represent their clients.
3. Taught hundreds of 5th graders about immigration through our annual "Celebrate America" Creative Writing Contest.
4. Guided over 200 high school students as they explored immigration issues on their own communities as they design service-learning projects.
5. Provided much needed resources that educators and parents can use to introduce their children to the world of immigration.
6. Launched a nationwide youth multi-media contest that focused on celebrating America as a nation of immigrants.
7. Produced several events around the country lifting up exceptional immigrants who have made an extraordinary contributions to our country.
8. Organized a series of timely, informative teleconferences on prosecutorial discretion and administrative advocacy.
9. Created special reports, blogs and other documents geared toward education policy makers and the public ensuring the immigration debate is based on facts nor fear.
10. Launched new program initiatives to investigate the benefits of the on-going relationships instituted by intercultural exchange.
11. Expanded and improved the work of our International Exchange Center, one of the most respected programs in the country.
    
    

The Newsletter of the American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center

June 12, 2012

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OUR WORK

Enforcement

LAC Wins Release of H-1B Fraud Documents
AILA v. DHS, No. 10-01224 (D.D.C. summary judgment granted in part March 30, 2012)

In May 2012, USCIS released in full the remaining contested documents in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the LAC and Steptoe & Johnson LLP on behalf of AILA. Filed in July 2010, the case sought the public release of records concerning USCIS fraud investigations in the H-1B program. For the past several years, USCIS’s H-1B visa review and processing procedures have caused confusion and concern among U.S. businesses that depend on temporary foreign workers with specialized knowledge to operate successfully.Read more...