Conference Program at a Glance

ETHICS

• Screened by Machine, Decided by Human? Ethics in the Age of AI Immigration Screening (Ethics)
• Immigration screening increasingly blends automated vetting, biometric surveillance, and human review. DHS’s public AI materials now describe USCIS, CBP, and ICE use cases ranging from continuous immigration vetting, rulebased screening, and document translation to traveler identity verification using facial recognition, investigative facial recognition tools, and newer generative AI. Panelists will examine how these systems affect benefits adjudications, enforcement consequences, and client counseling, and what that means for lawyers’ duties of competence, confidentiality, communication, diligence, candor, and supervision. They also will discuss how to advise clients when AI-assisted vetting, data exchange across agencies, and USCIS’s expanded law enforcement authorities may shape a case long before the attorney sees the full picture.
  • How USCIS, CBP, and ICE are actually using AI today through continuous vetting, automated screening, document translation, facial recognition, and newer generative AI tools
  • Data sharing among USCIS, ICE, CBP, and other DHS or non-DHS systems and how automated checks, identity tools, and shared databases can shape vetting and enforcement
  • Counseling clients on biometrics, digital evidence, social media, and other information that may surface through automated vetting and identity management systems
  • USCIS’s expanded law enforcement authorities and what that shift means for ethical counseling, informed decision-making, and risk assessment
  • Building the record when AI-assisted translations, identity matches, or fraud indicators appear unreliable, incomplete, or misunderstood

REMOVAL TRACK

PANEL 1: Navigating Asylum in the Modern Immigration Court

This expert-level panel dissects the evolving complexities of defensive and referred asylum claims. Attendees will gain tactical strategies to defend against motions to pretermit and navigate the increasingly narrow window for defining a particular social group. Participants will also learn how to master client representation and strategically present experts and evidence to build a winning record at the merits hearing and for a successful appeal.

This panel will cover

• What makes a “good” asylum case
• Caselaw updates affecting those seeking asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief
• Avoiding Pretermission under the ACAs and Matter of H-A-A-V-
• Effectively presenting witnesses, experts, and evidence

PANEL 2: Adjustment of Status and Waivers in removal proceedings

This panel will focus on how to manage a variety of scenarios for Respondents in removal proceedings, with a focus on how to apply for and win adjustment of status and waiver cases.

Understanding and navigating the constant changes in BIA case law, filing fees, and procedures at EOIR is more difficult now than ever. This panel of experts will provide practical advice on how to manage cases before the Immigration Courts in order to achieve relief from removal. Topics will include:

• Eligibility for adjustment and waivers – the ever changing landscape
• How to prepare and file applications with EOIR
• INA § 237(a)(1)(H) waiver – case law and the application process
• Re-adjustment in proceedings with waivers
• Continuances for applications pending with USCIS and other strategies

PANEL 3: Case Law Roundup with Tips and Strategies

This panel will provide a comprehensive overview of the most impactful Circuit and BIA decisions from 2025 to the present. Panelists will explore effective strategies for managing evolving case law while representing clients in removal proceedings. Panelists will also emphasize critical techniques for building a robust administrative record to ensure cases are fully prepared for federal court appeals.

• Circuit cases from 2025 to now, with a focus on the First Circuit
• BIA cases from 2025 to now
• Managing the changing case law for clients in removal proceedings
• Making the record: getting cases ready for appeal to federal court

BUSINESS TRACK

PANEL 1: Compliance Under Pressure: Audits, Layoffs, NTA

As employers face increased scrutiny around hiring, reverification, and workforce changes, practitioners must be ready to guide clients through I-9 strategies, the immigration implications of hiring laid-off workers, and the complications that can arise when layoffs intersect with NTAs and other enforcement concerns. Panelists also will address practical approaches for advising employers when foreign national employees seek accommodations or flexibility during layoffs, restructurings, and related workforce disruptions.

• Preparing for I-9 compliance: internal audits, corrections, recordkeeping, and training
• Considerations when hiring laid-off workers, including NTA risks, timing, and portability
• Handling foreign national requests for accommodations in layoff and furlough events

PANEL 2: Navigating Uncertainty: A Humanitarian Primer for Business Practitioners

Employers increasingly call business immigration attorneys to advise workers whose employment authorization depends on humanitarian programs that are temporary, litigated, or otherwise unstable. This session will equip practitioners with a practical overview of precarious statuses and the employment issues that arise when those protections are narrowed, extended, or terminated. Panelists also will examine strategies for moving affected employees into more durable nonimmigrant options where possible and how employers can structure support models that are both compliant and humane.

• Latest updates on precarious statuses, including humanitarian parole, TPS, DACA, DED, and asylum-based work authorization
• Employment impact of efforts to terminate or restrict humanitarian programs
• Activating an employment-based NIV from a precarious status, including timing, travel, and status-continuity concerns
• Spotting work authorization gaps and related employee-relations risks before they become crises
• How employers structure immigration support models to best assist employees in precarious statuses

PANEL 3: From F-1 to Founder: Nonimmigrant Options for the Entrepreneur

Not every entrepreneur fits neatly into the traditional employer-sponsored model. As more founders launch businesses while in student status or seek to build companies, practitioners must balance creative planning with close attention to status limitations and compliance risks. Panelists will explore viable nonimmigrant options for entrepreneurs, with a focus on the limits of F-1 activity, E-1 and E-2 strategies for founders, and the evolving landscape for H-1B beneficiary-owners.

• Limits of F-1 status on activity including passive ownership, active management, and work authorization issues
• E-1/E-2 visa options for founders
• H-1B beneficiary-owner cases: control, specialty occupation, and documentary strategies
• Structuring ownership and governance documents and potential challenges

WORKSHOPS

WORKSHOP 1 - Habeas Corpus + Bond

This workshop provides a focused look at navigating habeas corpus petitions and bond proceedings for noncitizens in immigration detention. Participants will learn strategies from experts for challenging unlawful arrests, detentions, and substantive bond denials in federal district court to ensure judicial oversight of detention decisions. The session also offers practical guidance on developing a strong bond record to effectively litigate for a client's release from custody.

WORKSHOP 2: How Far Can We Push It When Everything Isn’t “Matchy Matchy”

Ideally the job description, education, and experience/skills requirements would match exactly across Form 9141, experience documents, recruitment, and Form 9089.. In practice, however, practitioners are often confronted with records that are less than perfectly aligned. In this practical session, panelists will explore where mismatches create fatal flaws, where there may be room to maneuver, and how to assess risk before deciding whether to move forward, correct course, or start over.

• • • When experience letters do not cover all PERM requirements, can other evidence fill the gaps?
    • When recruitment does not match the prevailing wage request, what are risk areas and is the recruitment still usable?
    • When the Form ETA-9089 does not match the recruitment, how to decide when to re-recruit?
    • Distinguishing technical defects from substantive problems that may trigger audit, denial, or supervised recruitment

WORKSHOP 3: Sustaining the Advocate: Boundaries, Client Communication, and Lawyer Well-Being (Wellness)

Immigration lawyers the emotional burden of urgent deadlines, high stakes cases, an uncertain legal landscape. Over time, that pressure can take a toll not only on personal well-being, but also on communication, judgment, and long-term sustainability in practice. In this wellness session, panelists will discuss how attorneys can better sustain themselves while continuing to serve clients with empathy and professionalism. They also will explore strategies for managing client expectations, setting healthy boundaries, navigating cross-cultural communication, and identifying supportive resources. Panelists will discuss:

• Strategies for managing client expectations in high stakes cases.
• Setting healthy boundaries around communication, availability, urgency, and scope of representation
• Recognizing stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout in yourself and your team, as well as knowing when to seek help
• Using a DEI lens to enhance client communication and proper setting of expectations: how culture, language, and different experiences can shape trust and communication styles
• Finding support through the AILA community, AILA’s Practice and Professionalism Center, and Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers in Massachusetts, and similar organizations in other states, including ethics, practice-management, and confidential well-being resources

Smart Growth, Strong Brand: Managing and Marketing the Modern Immigration Practice

Running an immigration practice takes more than legal knowledge. Whether you are launching a solo shop, managing a growing small firm, or leading an established practice, long-term success depends on smart systems, a clear brand, and a sustainable approach. In this practical session, panelists will share candid lessons from building and managing small immigration practices, including what worked, what did not, and what they wish they had known sooner. They also will discuss how to define your market, attract the right clients, leverage technology and AI thoughtfully, and avoid common mistakes in operations, marketing, and firm management.

• Leveraging technology for building systems and workflows
• Using social media to brand and market your practice
• Deciding which cases to take on, which ones to decline, and how to add new practice areas