Ben Johnson
@ailaexecdir.bsky.social
Executive Director of @aila.org. The views expressed here are my personal opinions. RT ≠ Endorsements.
Great article highlighting the important work of @aila.org and our members to protect clients' rights, particularly through habeas efforts.
'We need warriors': Immigration lawyers get help from unlikely allies in fight to free clients
Immigration lawyers who have little experience with habeas corpus petitions are turning to informal networks and a software developer from Chicago to help them with their cases.
www.kpbs.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Great article highlighting the important work of @aila.org and our members to protect clients' rights, particularly through habeas efforts.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
AILA Elected Director Heather Prendergast describes a recent consultation that deeply affected her: a young Venezuelan couple faces detention and removal after a routine traffic stop upended their lives. Read on the #ThinkImmigration blog. https://bit.ly/3WxICpa
Staying Brave is Hard for Immigrants and Attorneys Alike
AILA Elected Director Heather Prendergast describes a recent consultation that deeply affected her as a young Venezuelan couple faces detention and removal after a routine traffic stop upended their l...
bit.ly
October 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM
AILA Elected Director Heather Prendergast describes a recent consultation that deeply affected her: a young Venezuelan couple faces detention and removal after a routine traffic stop upended their lives. Read on the #ThinkImmigration blog. https://bit.ly/3WxICpa
Reposted by Ben Johnson
NEW on #ThinkImmigration: AILA Law Journal Editor-in-Chief Cyrus Mehta describes the key topics from articles published in the newly released Fall 2025 issue of the AILA Law Journal. https://bit.ly/3L5k9F5
Think Immigration: What’s New In Your AILA Law Journal?
As part of our efforts to amplify the AILA Law Journal, Editor-in-Chief Cyrus Mehta shares highlights as he describes the key topics from articles published in the newly released Fall 2025 issue of th...
bit.ly
October 23, 2025 at 8:05 PM
NEW on #ThinkImmigration: AILA Law Journal Editor-in-Chief Cyrus Mehta describes the key topics from articles published in the newly released Fall 2025 issue of the AILA Law Journal. https://bit.ly/3L5k9F5
Reposted by Ben Johnson
"Put immigration adjudication where it belongs: under an independent Article I court, led by judges whose duty is to the law—not to a political boss." Read more on #ThinkImmigration from AILA Past President Jeremy McKinney. https://bit.ly/4hkX4KQ
Think Immigration: Our Immigration “Courts” Need a New Boss
AILA Past President Jeremy McKinney writes for the Think Immigration blog on the need for an independent immigration court system: “Put immigration adjudication where it belongs: under an independent ...
www.aila.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM
"Put immigration adjudication where it belongs: under an independent Article I court, led by judges whose duty is to the law—not to a political boss." Read more on #ThinkImmigration from AILA Past President Jeremy McKinney. https://bit.ly/4hkX4KQ
A DHS audit just gutted most of a South Dakota dairy’s workforce, hardworking people who kept the operation running for decades. This is what happens when enforcement replaces reason: rural economies and American businesses suffer.
Noem's South Dakota neighbors hit with an immigration audit that decimates their workforce • South Dakota Searchlight
Dairy farm audits in South Dakota under the Trump administration’s escalated immigration enforcement efforts have “created unrest."
southdakotasearchlight.com
October 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
A DHS audit just gutted most of a South Dakota dairy’s workforce, hardworking people who kept the operation running for decades. This is what happens when enforcement replaces reason: rural economies and American businesses suffer.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
AILA Chicago Chapter Citizenship Day Coordinator Megan Davis describes how the Chicago Chapter partnered with community organizations to hold a successful & inspiring 2025 AILA Citizenship Day, helping people toward naturalization. #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/46TUIOa
Think Immigration: AILA’s Citizenship Day in Chicago: Uplifting Communities in a Time of Adversity
In this blog post, AILA Chicago Chapter Citizenship Day Coordinator Megan Davis describes how the Chicago Chapter partnered with community organizations and held a successful and inspiring AILA Citize...
bit.ly
October 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
AILA Chicago Chapter Citizenship Day Coordinator Megan Davis describes how the Chicago Chapter partnered with community organizations to hold a successful & inspiring 2025 AILA Citizenship Day, helping people toward naturalization. #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/46TUIOa
Reposted by Ben Johnson
"Advocates have urged immigrants, especially children, not to sign any documents that attempt to threaten or incentivize children to waive their rights without first seeking legal advice." https://bit.ly/4pTEtt1
ICE Targets Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Offering Payment for Deportation
ICE confirmed its plan to pay unaccompanied immigrant children in exchange for their agreement to be deported.
bit.ly
October 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
"Advocates have urged immigrants, especially children, not to sign any documents that attempt to threaten or incentivize children to waive their rights without first seeking legal advice." https://bit.ly/4pTEtt1
Late yesterday, trusted sources warned that an effort to threaten the security of unaccompanied children between the ages of 14-18 might start today. We do not have confirmed reports that this effort is underway, but we continue to monitor the situation.
October 3, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Late yesterday, trusted sources warned that an effort to threaten the security of unaccompanied children between the ages of 14-18 might start today. We do not have confirmed reports that this effort is underway, but we continue to monitor the situation.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
The Trump administration's immigration policies targeting highly skilled immigrants threatens to weaken the U.S. economy through undercutting innovation and not providing ample opportunity for potential talent to stay and contribute. New AILA policy brief: bit.ly/42JzjWL
Policy Brief: Policies Targeting Skilled Workers and Students Crush American Innovation and Harm our Economy
The Trump administration's immigration policies targeting highly skilled immigrants threatens to weaken the U.S. economy through undercutting innovation and not providing ample opportunity for potenti...
bit.ly
October 2, 2025 at 9:29 PM
The Trump administration's immigration policies targeting highly skilled immigrants threatens to weaken the U.S. economy through undercutting innovation and not providing ample opportunity for potential talent to stay and contribute. New AILA policy brief: bit.ly/42JzjWL
Government Shutdown and Immigration: Immigration enforcement continues unabated, while some other areas are affected; here is @aila.org's updated resource about impacts on immigration law and policy.
Practice Alert: What Happens When the Government Shuts Down
AILA National shares information on how federal agencies may be affected as a result of the government shutdown. This page will continue to be updated as more information is received.
www.aila.org
October 1, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Government Shutdown and Immigration: Immigration enforcement continues unabated, while some other areas are affected; here is @aila.org's updated resource about impacts on immigration law and policy.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
AILA Past President Kathleen Campbell Walker on #ThinkImmigration: USCIS’s new enforcement authority disrupts the long-standing separation between benefits adjudication and enforcement, creating complex challenges for immigration lawyers and their clients. https://bit.ly/42KeJVQ
Think Immigration: Zealously Representing Clients in the Face of Trump Administration Attacks
AILA Past President Kathleen Campbell Walker describes how the Trump Administration's rapid changes to immigration agency policies, such as arming USCIS agents, combined with 'eviscerating existing lo...
www.aila.org
September 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
AILA Past President Kathleen Campbell Walker on #ThinkImmigration: USCIS’s new enforcement authority disrupts the long-standing separation between benefits adjudication and enforcement, creating complex challenges for immigration lawyers and their clients. https://bit.ly/42KeJVQ
There was no legitimate reason to terrorize H-1B workers and alarm their employers causing 24 hours of panic. The failure to provide a legally sound proclamation and the haphazard messaging caused unnecessary chaos and fear along with human and material cost.
September 20, 2025 at 11:51 PM
There was no legitimate reason to terrorize H-1B workers and alarm their employers causing 24 hours of panic. The failure to provide a legally sound proclamation and the haphazard messaging caused unnecessary chaos and fear along with human and material cost.
These announcements attempt to rewrite laws created by Congress, which clearly established the parameters and purpose of the H-1B program and employment-based green cards, their fees, and the formal process for making changes. It will not stand up in court.
NEW: President Trump signed a proclamation restricting H-1B visas, requiring U.S. employers to pay a $100,000 fee per H-1B & issued an executive order for his 'Gold Card' visa. AILA leadership responds: "If we push this talent away, America will lose." https://bit.ly/4nz1XBE
AILA: Trump Administration H-1B Crackdown and “Gold Card” Visa Imperil Jobs, Innovation, and Rural Healthcare
AILA President Jeff Joseph and ED Ben Johnson responded to the Trump Administration attempting to apply a new $100,000 fee to H-1Bs and supplant existing visa programs with a “Gold Card” visa, noting ...
bit.ly
September 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM
These announcements attempt to rewrite laws created by Congress, which clearly established the parameters and purpose of the H-1B program and employment-based green cards, their fees, and the formal process for making changes. It will not stand up in court.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
AILA Policy & Practice Associate Mariah Ferguson details how changes to policies affecting international students will hurt agency efficiency, institutions of higher education, American students & the national economy on today’s #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/4nCs6Q0
Think Immigration: Excluding International Students Hurts Agency Efficiency and the National Economy
AILA Policy and Practice Associate Mariah Ferguson details how the changes to policies affecting international students will not only affect the students themselves, but also agency efficiency, instit...
bit.ly
September 18, 2025 at 5:40 PM
AILA Policy & Practice Associate Mariah Ferguson details how changes to policies affecting international students will hurt agency efficiency, institutions of higher education, American students & the national economy on today’s #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/4nCs6Q0
This Washington Post story documents the lack of due process and access to counsel as well as unsafe and inhumane conditions at Ft. Bliss/Camp East Montana - share this piece with your networks and speak out against these abuses. Congress needs to act.
60 violations in 50 days: Inside ICE’s giant tent facility at Ft. Bliss
As the Trump Administration rushes to open massive makeshift holding centers nationwide, one former official called the list of violations at Fort Bliss among the worst she’s ever seen.
wapo.st
September 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
This Washington Post story documents the lack of due process and access to counsel as well as unsafe and inhumane conditions at Ft. Bliss/Camp East Montana - share this piece with your networks and speak out against these abuses. Congress needs to act.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
This month marks the 20th anniversary of AILA Citizenship Day! Our members have helped change lives and foster community through this important and inspiring pro bono effort. There is still time to get involved, find out how on #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/48b0kWl
September 10, 2025 at 4:38 PM
This month marks the 20th anniversary of AILA Citizenship Day! Our members have helped change lives and foster community through this important and inspiring pro bono effort. There is still time to get involved, find out how on #ThinkImmigration https://bit.ly/48b0kWl
Every American should be gravely concerned that the nation’s highest court has given a green light to racial profiling.
“This Supreme Court decision upends the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee that all Americans will be free from arbitrary targeting by law enforcement” @ailaexecdir.bsky.social responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing indiscriminate immigration enforcement in LA.
AILA Executive Director: SCOTUS Allows Indiscriminate Immigration Enforcement for Now
AILA ED Ben Johnson responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing the Trump Administration to continue its indiscriminate immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, noting that "Every American should...
www.aila.org
September 9, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Every American should be gravely concerned that the nation’s highest court has given a green light to racial profiling.
For 30 years, across 5 Presidents, the “plain language” of the statute at issue was universally read to hold the opposite of this new ruling. The only thing that has changed is the increasing willingness of the immigration courts to follow Donald Trump instead of the law.
NEW: AILA President Jeff Joseph and @ailaexecdir.bsky.social Ben Johnson respond to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)'s decision stripping immigration judges of bond authority, ignoring decades of precedent. www.aila.org/library/bia-...
AILA: BIA’s Decision Ignores Decades of Precedent, Stripping Immigration Judges of Bond Authority
AILA President Jeff Joseph and Executive Director Ben Johnson respond to the BIA decision in <em>Matter of Yajure Hurtado</em> noting that "This decision will put billions of taxpayer dollars in the p...
www.aila.org
September 8, 2025 at 8:07 PM
For 30 years, across 5 Presidents, the “plain language” of the statute at issue was universally read to hold the opposite of this new ruling. The only thing that has changed is the increasing willingness of the immigration courts to follow Donald Trump instead of the law.
This alarming development is another example of the administration’s singular focus of creating a hostile environment for all immigrants and their attorneys. Instead of solutions for the American people, they are closing America’s doors to the world.
NEW: AILA leadership expresses deep concern as the Trump Administration plans to train and arm agents at USCIS. Read the full statement from President Jeff Joseph and Executive Director Ben Johnson. https://bit.ly/41BPg0z
Trump Administration Continues Dystopian Shift of USCIS to Enforcement Agency with Armed Agents
AILA President Jeff Joseph and AILA ED Ben Johnson respond to Trump Administration plans to train and arm agents at USCIS; Jeff Joseph noted they have “transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, we...
www.aila.org
September 4, 2025 at 11:29 PM
This alarming development is another example of the administration’s singular focus of creating a hostile environment for all immigrants and their attorneys. Instead of solutions for the American people, they are closing America’s doors to the world.
In this latest destructive move to undermine the immigration courts, the Trump Administration is reviving a long-abandoned rule to allow temporary immigration judges with no background in immigration law.
AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson responds to the Trump admin. eliminating the requirement that temporary immigration judges possess knowledge of immigration law & moving DoD attorneys over as judges: “It makes as much as sense as having a cardiologist do a hip replacement.” https://bit.ly/47pXSuP
AILA Executive Director: Trump Administration Further Erodes Immigration Courts
AILA ED Ben Johnson responded to news that just days after the Trump Administration issued a final rule eliminating the requirement that temporary immigration judges possess knowledge of immigration law, DoD Secretary Hegseth approved using up to 600 mi...
bit.ly
September 2, 2025 at 10:44 PM
In this latest destructive move to undermine the immigration courts, the Trump Administration is reviving a long-abandoned rule to allow temporary immigration judges with no background in immigration law.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
New on #ThinkImmigration, AILA member Gunda Brost considers the future of denaturalization as an immigration enforcement priority in the wake of the Trump administration's June 2025 memo. https://bit.ly/466n2fH
Think Immigration: Citizenship as a Weapon: Is Denaturalization an Increasing Threat?
Gunda Brost, Past Chair of the AILA IA-NE Chapter, describes how citizenship and denaturalization have been used by nations over human history and what the new actions around denaturalization efforts ...
bit.ly
September 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
New on #ThinkImmigration, AILA member Gunda Brost considers the future of denaturalization as an immigration enforcement priority in the wake of the Trump administration's June 2025 memo. https://bit.ly/466n2fH
A federal court just let the Trump admin move forward with ending TPS for Afghans and Cameroonians despite unsafe conditions and U.S. travel warnings. Stripping protections now puts lives at risk. This is cruel, calculated harm.
Trump administration can lift deportation protections for thousands from Afghanistan and Cameroon, court says
An appellate court allowed the Trump administration to end a program that grants temporary deportation protections and work permits to more than 10,000 people from Afghanistan and Cameroon.
www.cbsnews.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A federal court just let the Trump admin move forward with ending TPS for Afghans and Cameroonians despite unsafe conditions and U.S. travel warnings. Stripping protections now puts lives at risk. This is cruel, calculated harm.
The mass firings of immigration judges and State Dept. personnel are reckless. Backlogs will grow, legal immigration will slow, and the U.S. has lost invaluable talent and experience across the globe. This is sabotage, not strategy.
More immigration judges are being fired amid Trump's efforts to speed up deportations
Several more immigration judges have been fired, even as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement, and after Congress gave the Department of Justice $3 billion, in part to hire judges...
www.npr.org
July 18, 2025 at 6:40 PM
The mass firings of immigration judges and State Dept. personnel are reckless. Backlogs will grow, legal immigration will slow, and the U.S. has lost invaluable talent and experience across the globe. This is sabotage, not strategy.
The fight to protect the 14th Amendment isn’t over: A federal judge blocked Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship nationwide, allowing the case to proceed as a class action. Though there's much work to be done, this is a win for constitutional rights.
Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order in Class-Action Challenge
www.nytimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The fight to protect the 14th Amendment isn’t over: A federal judge blocked Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship nationwide, allowing the case to proceed as a class action. Though there's much work to be done, this is a win for constitutional rights.
SCOTUS has rejected Florida’s emergency request to enforce barring undocumented immigrants from entering the state. Congratulations to the AILA members and partners in Florida who fought against this harmful law.
Supreme Court blocks part of Florida's immigration law
Immigrant rights organizations sued the state arguing that its new law conflicts with federal immigration law, and under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, states must bow to federal law in the eve...
www.npr.org
July 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
SCOTUS has rejected Florida’s emergency request to enforce barring undocumented immigrants from entering the state. Congratulations to the AILA members and partners in Florida who fought against this harmful law.