As part of our efforts to amplify AILA Law ReviewEditor-in-Chief Cyrus Mehta shares some highlights as he describes the key topics of the articles published in the new issue AILA Law Journal Fall 2023 Edition and gives readers a glimpse of what to expect when they open the digital edition. AILA members, access your free digital copy of the Law Journal to know more !
I have been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) for many years and was proud to take on the role of editor-in-chief of AILA Law Review from the incomparable Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia last year. AILA’s mission calls for the organization to work toward fairer and more just immigration laws and policies and one of AILA’s key goals AILA Law Review is to publish articles that can persuade policymakers and courts to change laws to positively impact the lives of non-citizens. I am delighted that the Fall 2023 issue provides a rich range of articles that have the potential to move things in this direction.
First, Immigration Judge Mimi Tsankov shares “An Article I Immigration Court: Congress, It’s Time to Revive This Vehicle to Judicial Independence,” in which she argues forcefully for the creation of an independent Article I immigration court. Judge Tsankov, joined by former AILA President Jeremy McKinney, shared similar views and ideas during a recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Subcommittee. It is indeed high time that the immigration courts were removed from the control of the Attorney General and subject to the political winds.
We then turn to an important article by Elaine Wood, “Persecution Taxonomy: Adding Sex and Gender as Protected Grounds for Asylum,” in which the author points out that a barrier to granting asylum in the United States is the systemic gender bias inherent in structures. of legal justice. Wood’s article is groundbreaking because it makes an important contribution to asylum jurisprudence through a much-needed feminist lens. Next, Jim Nzonguma Mayua argues that asylum seekers should not be detained once they have established a credible fear of persecution in “Mandatory Detention of Illegal Entrants Seeking United States Asylum and Protection of due process.”
Emercio José Aponte and Andrea Paola Aponte, “The Bolivarian Concept of the Enemy Within: What Does It Mean for Venezuelan Asylum Seekers?” is, I believe, essential reading for the practitioner representing a Venezuelan seeking asylum in the United States given the recent mass influx of Venezuelans fleeing the Maduro regime. Betsy L. Fisher also offers expert perspectives in “A Fast Track to Refuge or Path to Nowhere? Design successful Priority 2 group designations. If anyone knows these issues inside and out, it’s Betsy!
Narmada Sapkota writes eloquently in “Unlocking the Power of Experts: How They Can Make or Break Your Asylum Case” about the non-obligatory but often important role that experts can play in providing in-depth knowledge and evidence to help non-citizens to establish their asylum application. , refusal of removal and CAT protection. Changing Topics, Patrick Gilsenan writes how Chevron deference seems to have transformed over the years into “Chevron Defiance: Adapting Changing Administrative Law Standards to Immigration Enforcement. » This article is important as the Supreme Court considers overturning or limiting Chevron deference in Relentless, Inc. v. Commerce Department And Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo next year. And finally, in “No Fault/Technical Reasons: A Postmortem on Flawed Rulemaking and Its Effect on Nonimmigrant Status Breaches,” Martin Robles-Avila suggests, among other things, that USCIS update its policy manual to indicate that regulations are not all…inclusive and that applicants may introduce additional factors, including ineffective assistance of counsel, to demonstrate that they were not responsible for failing to maintain their status.
I encourage all AILA members to download and browse their free digital copy of law review today, and to contact them if they have ideas for future pieces, either by them or others. The Law Review is a community effort to benefit the practice of immigration law. Let’s go!