2020 AILA CONFERENCE

The 2020 AILA virtual conference and exhibition united practitioners from all areas of immigration for four days of education, innovation, inspiration, and collaboration in a series of programming and events. Each day focused on a different substantive practice area. At Tsang & Associates, we pride ourselves in constantly learning and growing as a firm. This is our take on the 2020 AILA Conference which highlights the most important and recent news in the world of immigration!

This video summarizes Senator Tim Kaine’s keynote speech. Senator Tim Kaine comes from an immigrant family himself and has been serving in the Senate since 2013. He has been involved with many immigration bills and notably was a part of the 2018 DACA reform bill. In his keynote speech, Senator Kaine focuses on the two schools of thought: globalists vs. nationalists, and their approach towards problem-solving, the pandemic, fiscal policies, and more. He also mentions new USCIS updates for issuing green cards, which Joseph dives more into in this video.

This video demystifies the new public charge regulations and other areas of concern. New Public Charge Regulations: What You Need to Know, Comparison of Public Charge Regulations Across Immigration Agencies, How to Evaluate If Your Client May Be a “Public Charge,” Findings of Public Charge and I-601A Revocations: Advocacy Strategies and Litigation Issues, and Ethical Concerns for Practitioners in Preparing the I-864 for the Sponsor and/or Co-Sponsor.

This video focuses on complex and uncommon issues in marriage-based cases: When Your Client Has a Previously Denied Marriage-Based I-130, Proving Good Faith When Traditional Bona Fides Are Not Available, When Married Couple Doesn’t Speak the Same Language and Other Glaring Red Flags, Preparing Couples for Stokes/Separated Interviews, and Living Apart but Still Together: Cohabiting in a New Era.

This video examines current events relating to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) procedures in both the affirmative and defensive avenues. We offer practice tips and litigation updates related to the most vulnerable clients: Ethical Issues When Representing Children, Representing Children in Juvenile Court, Affirmative I-360 Filings and RFEs, SIJS as a Form of Relief in Immigration Court, and Updates on SIJS Litigation and Post-18th Birthday Difficulties.

This video focuses on current RFE and Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) trends in the nonimmigrant and immigrant visa context. It also provides guidance on how to address many of the most common and/or difficult requests made by USCIS. Emphasizes how to work with clients to develop winning strategies.

This video is designed for attendees who work with Canadians and Mexicans to meet the business needs of employers. It provides updates on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) current practices, including an update on the e-SAFE waiver process. In addition, it will address current trends in inadmissibility challenges being faced for those using legacy NAFTA regulations, and provide an update on the USMCA.

This video provides an overview of recent and anticipated changes coming from DOL that might impact the labor certification program and process such as Updates to PERM-Related Systems, Trends Gleaned from Recent DOL Audits, Denials, and Liaison, Review of Recent PERM-Related FAQs, and Trends in Recent BALCA Decisions.

This video addresses the impact of COVID-19 on immigration through the employment lifecycle generally, and discusses in detail the novel issues employers of immigrants now face: delayed start dates for individuals on OPT, changes in work conditions, issues caused by remote employment, furloughs and terminations, etc. It also reviews the latest information on consular and USCIS appointments, administrative policy changes, and executive orders.

Matter of A–B– made establishing a legally cognizable particular social group (PSG) extremely difficult in more than just domestic violence-based asylum claims. This session does a deep dive into the current law of PSG formulation, and work through how and when to craft a winning PSG for your asylum claims. Topics include Gender– and Gang-Based Asylum After A–B–, Family– and Gender-Based PSGs, Political Opinion as Alternatives, Finding the “Goldilocks Zone:” Not Too Broad, Not Too Small, and Not Too Circular, How to Develop and Plead Your PSG at an Early Stage, and How to Support Your PSG Through Testimony and Supporting Evidence.

Going to federal court can be intimidating. This session provides an overview of different types of federal court actions used by immigration practitioners and addresses what to expect in response from the government. Topics include Mandamus, Review Under the Administrative Procedure Act, Declaratory Judgment, Jurisdiction and Standard of Review, The Inevitable Motion to Dismiss, Injunctions, and Discovery, and Appellate Options.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Kisor v. Wilkie sheds light on when agency decisions should receive deference, and could provide valuable arguments for combating bad USCIS, AAO, and BIA decisions that could affect clients. This video addresses the potentially wide-reaching impact of the Kisor decision, and will discuss how to incorporate it into ongoing litigation.

Open Forum with U.S. Department of State: this video summarizes the open forum discussion panel that was held with the U.S. Department of State (DOS).