If Congress were my dear departed Mom, and I were the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there would be purgatory to pay if I brought home a report card like DHS produced in 2007. To put it another way, If the President were Sister Donavita, my eighth grade parochial-school nun, and she issued me the…

I lost a great friend this weekend, Steve Fischel, but America lost a patriot. Stunned and tearful as the news of his passing spread, I walked aimlessly through the Vancouver Convention Center last Saturday afternoon, realizing in awe how many AILA members likewise cherished a close friendship with him.

Steve and I were to share…

I’m clearing my desk to get ready for travel on Wednesday to Vancouver. That’s of course where the American Immigration Lawyers Association is holding its annual conference. One of the panels will be an open forum with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

As most in the immigration world know, the DOL is very concerned…

Americans are far more welcoming and warm-hearted than the reputedly cold-hearted Swiss, we like to believe. As the New York Times reports today, the Swiss people are set to vote on a ballot measure of dubious constitutionality that would let local citizens decide in secret and give no reason for rejecting a fellow townsperson’s application…

When American farmers cut down blossoming cherry trees that take years to bear fruit, something is wrong. When peach trees are also chopped down, and tomatoes, asparagus and cabbage, although profitable and tasty, are not planted, something is wrong. When farmers instead buy expensive machines that are too ham-handed to pick delicate produce, yet spew…

Is there something in the water? Has the frenzied focus on immigration enforcement prevailed over the rule of law? Here’s my sample bill of particulars:

• Congress gives the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to waive environmental and all other laws that stand in his way in building the fence that will go nowhere, i.e., as

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The last few days, in so many ways, have laid bare the raw wounds of our frail immigration system.

• The Washington Post concludes a four-part investigation into the inhumane and horrific conditions for immigrants detained and too often allowed to die in custody for civil infractions of our immigration laws.
• The New York Times reports

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Gigabytes of platitudes have spewn forth from the anti-immigration cabal in Congress about their self-proclaimed respect for foreign citizens who wait patiently in line and play by the rules. The law-abiding folks from other countries — those with work visas or green cards who pay U.S. taxes and those living abroad whose spouses are in…