AILA Presents Sandra A. Grossman with the 2022 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recognizes Sandra A. Grossman with the 2022 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law.

Sandra Grossman is a founding partner of Grossman Young & Hammond, a full-service immigration and international human rights law firm in Maryland. In addition to her work representing foreign nationals in consular matters, diverse immigration benefit applications, and removal proceedings, Ms. Grossman has developed an international human rights law practice to fully advocate for clients. She represents activists, entrepreneurs, academics, and professionals worldwide who have been targeted by persecutory INTERPOL notices. By challenging the legitimacy of these requests before INTERPOL in Lyon, France, she has successfully thwarted the detention and extradition efforts of Venezuela, China, Russia, and many other autocratic regimes.

In 2019, she testified before a bipartisan congressional committee (the “Helsinki Commission”) as a national expert on how to curb INTERPOL abuse by autocratic nations. Her significant testimony helped lay the groundwork for legislation to curb INTERPOL abuse, known as the Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention Act of 2021.

She has not just established herself as an expert on this issue but has advanced the profession by training her fellow immigration lawyers to help clients deal with INTERPOL notices. In 2019, Ms. Grossman coauthored the first AILA publication on “Challenging a Red Notice,” in the inaugural edition of the AILA Law Journal. Numerous publications including POLITICO, Voice of America, the Los Angeles Times, and Middle East Eye have quoted her on these issues.

In addition to her INTERPOL Defense work, Ms. Grossman’s pro bono efforts on advancing the practice of immigration law are extensive. She serves on the Board for the Washington Office on Latin America as well as on AILA’s Department of State Liaison Committee, promoting meaningful discourse between the Department of State and U.S. immigration lawyers.

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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.