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En Banc Court Reverses Adverse Holding, Says Immigrants Can Pursue Cases from Outside the U.S.

Published on Mon, Jan 30, 2012

Jan. 30, 2012 - Today, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected the government’s attempt to bar noncitizens from seeking to reopen their cases from outside the United States. This is the seventh appellate court to find the “departure bar”—a regulation barring noncitizens from pursuing their cases after departure or deportation—unlawful and is a step forward in protecting the right to a fair immigration hearing. The decision is particularly significant because the Tenth Circuit had been the only court at odds with the majority. The court had granted rehearing en banc to reconsider its prior decision. 

Despite the overwhelming rejection of the departure bar, however, the government continues to defend the regulation and apply it to cases outside the circuits that have invalidated the bar. The American Immigration Council's Legal Action Center (LAC) and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), which filed amicus briefs in the Tenth Circuit and argued before the court, renew their call for the agency to strike this unlawful regulation.

Read more about the LAC and NIPNLG’s challenges to the departure bar:

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For more information, contact [email protected]

Published in the | View PDF

Events and Awards

The American Immigration Council’s event program is an important tool used to educate Americans of the important contributions made by immigrants to our society and to remind Americans that it is in our country's best interest to remain a nation of immigrants.

Annual Benefit

The Council hosts a national Annual Benefit gala, in conjunction with the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association’s (AILA) Annual Conference, where we award the American Heritage Award to honor the outstanding contributions of individual immigrants.

Immigrant Achievement Awards

The Council also hosts three additional regional Immigrant Achievement Awards in New York City, Chicago and Washington, DC. At the Washington, DC Immigrant Achievement Awards, the Council awards the Stephen K. Fischel Public Service Award as well as the American Immigration Council Youth Immigrant Achievement Award.

“Celebrate America” Creative Writing Contest

The Council’s Community Education Center sponsors the annual "Celebrate America" Creative Writing Contest in an ongoing effort to educate the public about the benefits of immigration to our society. Open to fifth grade students across the nation, this contest encourages our youth, families and surrounding communities to evaluate and appreciate the effects of immigration in our own lives. This, in turn, allows them to see that America is truly a nation of immigrants.

Info Demanded on 'Criminal Alien Program'

Published on Tue, Mar 13, 2012

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CN) - Immigration lawyers want the Department of Homeland Security to release information on its Criminal Alien Program, which is believed to be involved in nearly half of all the "removal proceedings."

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association Connecticut Chapter sued the Department of Homeland Security in a federal FOIA complaint.

Critics have said that the so-called "criminal alien program" does not target criminals at all, but is used to enlist local governments in deportations.

"The Criminal Alien Program ('CAP') is an enormous, nationwide initiative of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ('ICE'), a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and is implicated in approximately half of all removal proceedings," the complaint states. "CAP's enforcement operations take place in tandem with law enforcement in every state, and as a result of CAP, individuals are often detained by ICE and deported before they have been convicted of a crime or have had the opportunity to speak with an immigration attorney. Despite CAP's role in facilitating the removal of hundreds of thousands of individuals each year, and despite serving as ICE's 'bedrock' enforcement initiative, very little information about CAP is available to the public. What little is known about the program suggests that CAP exacerbates racial profiling and other abusive police practices."

The complaint adds: "Congress never enacted legislation authorizing CAP. Nor did DHS officially promulgate regulations to govern CAP. As a result, little publicly available information exists that could illuminate how CAP functions. Instead, DHS and ICE stitched CAP together from interpretations of vague congressional appropriations provisions and a patchwork of administrative initiatives, thwarting public understanding of the program."Read more...

Published in the Courthouse News Service

New Media Internship

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC), the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council, is seeking a New Media Intern to assist with its online presence and social networking capacity. Applicants should possess strong communications and new media skills, as well as a passion for the future of immigration.

Responsibilities include:

  • Updating IPC website, blog and publications
  • Blog/new media outreach
  • Archiving media clips
  • Generating dialogue in social networking spaces
  • Gathering and maintaining media contact lists (relevant websites, blogs, print, audio and visual media)
  • Integrating new media technologies into IPC's communication strategies
  • Supporting staff as needed

Qualifications and Skills

  • Interest in immigration
  • Basic HTML skills preferred, but not required
  • Understanding of blog culture and new media world
  • Basic Wordpress and blogging skills
  • Familiar with a wide-range of online social networks and new media technologies
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Student working on BS/BA or MS/MA degree in Communication/Journalism/New Media or related field with a strong interest in immigration
  • Sense of humor a must

Compensation
Non-paid, school credit available

Schedule
Flexible, preferably 3-4 days a week

Duration
Five to Six Months

Application Procedure
Application process is rolling. Please send us a resume and cover letter stating your knowledge of and experience with new media—including relevant classes and related work experience.  Your cover letter should also demonstrate your interest in immigration and what you hope to gain from this internship.Read more...

Quick Fact: Americans want Reform

67% of voters said “We would be better off if people who are in the United States illegally became legal taxpayers so they pay their fair share,” vs. 28% who said “We would be better off if people who are in the United States illegally left the country because they are taking away jobs that Americans need.”

Read More »

Three Madera 5th Graders in Top 10 – Northern California Writing Contest

Published on Sat, May 26, 2012

When the top 10 winners of a Northern California creative-writing contest for fifth graders took the stage in San Francisco Wednesday night, three of them were from El Cerrito's Madera Elementary School.

The Northern California "Celebrate America Creative Writing Contest," now in its 10th year, challenged fifth graders to write essays or poems on the theme, "Why I Am Glad America Is a Nation of Immigrants."

Read more...

Published in the ElCerritoPatch

Access to Counsel

The LAC has long advocated for the right to appointed counsel for indigent immigrants in removal proceedings, as well as fair standards and procedures to remedy the sometimes devastating results of ineffective assistance of counsel. Access to counsel lies at the very core of our legal system and is integral to ensuring a fair process and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Without counsel, vulnerable noncitizens are often deported without inquiries into their ability to comprehend the proceedings against them.

Why a rare bipartisan consensus on immigration totally fell apart

Published on Fri, Sep 21, 2012

Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, helps explain what happened to the STEM visa proposal in this Washington Post article:  Read more...

Published in the The Washington Post