AILA Announces National Day of Action 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

CONTACT:
Jenny Levy
202-216-2407
jlevy@aila.org

WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, April 3, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will hold "National Day of Action 2008," an advocacy event for the association's members and clients to meet with their representatives in Congress to discuss relevant immigration issues. Last year, members from nearly all of AILA's 35 chapters participated in the event, flying into Washington, DC from different locations around the country. More than 400 attorneys met with 386 Congressional offices to discuss the immediate need for comprehensive immigration reform.

AILA is pleased to announce that National Day of Action is expanding further this year. In addition to AILA member attorneys traveling to DC to speak with their representatives about the national picture, AILA's Manager of Grassroots Advocacy, Jenny Levy, has also worked to coordinate meetings in district offices around the country for members unable to make the trip to the Capitol. "After the tremendous success we experienced with Lobby Day 2007, we were really excited to expand the event to include district office visits, which we think will be a great way to create an echo chamber for our national message" said Ms. Levy. This year, more than 200 AILA member attorneys will be traveling to Washington, DC to meet with their respective members of Congress, and nearly as many members will be participating in district meetings in almost every chapter across the country.

AILA attorneys will be discussing recent developments and initiatives regarding immigration issues, including the continuing H-1B crisis, the backlog of naturalization applications, the confusion of administrative immigration violations with criminal laws, the proliferation of warrantless immigration arrests and the decrease of prosecutorial discretion. "This event is another great example of the dedication and commitment of AILA lawyers to make their voices, and the voices of their clients, heard," said AILA President, Kathleen Campbell Walker, who will also be participating in AILA's National Day of Action this year. "Our membership possesses the rare insight and knowledge base regarding the true day to day issues created by our complex U.S. immigration laws; and our National Day of Action gives us a focused opportunity to shed light on the chaos left in the wake of the failure of rational immigration reform. Now, we have to expand our focus to include state and local legislators as well who feel that they have no recourse other than to add their legislative efforts to the political fray surrounding immigration issues. We are all tired of rhetoric and are ready to work in any support capacity to help our immigration laws and policies make sense both from an economic and security related perspective."

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members. For more information call Jenny Levy at 202-216-2407 or Annie Wilson at 202-216-2435