Litigates on behalf of illegal aliens against the U.S. government
Recommends "a comprehensive legalization program to allow undocumented immigrants in the United States to obtain legal status"
Established in 1987 as a not-for-profit educational institution, the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) defines its mission as "increasing public understanding of immigration law and policy and the value of immigration to American society," and "advancing fundamental fairness and due process under the law for immigrants." In practice, AILF -- along with the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Center for Constitutional Rights -- supports the open borders movement that advocates expanded rights and amnesty for illegal aliens residing the U.S., and the abandonment of all future restrictions on immigration.
AILF pursues its open borders agendas via four separate programs: Its Legal Action Center litigates on behalf of illegal immigrants against the office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Services); The Public Education Program provides schoolteachers with classroom materials that promote a pro-immigration, pro-open borders philosophy; The Exchange Visitor Program acts as a conduit to facilitate the entry of foreign students and workers into the United States; and The Immigration Policy Center uses its research findings and press releases to influence the opinions of lawmakers and private citizens on immigration and associated issues.
AILF characterizes immigrants in America as the primary victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks because of adverse "decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), workplace raids, and tightened immigration regulations affect all noncitizens."
AILF views immigration restrictions and anti-terrorism measures as assaults on civil liberties, rooted in bigotry and xenophobia. As AILF states in one press release, "[T]he Bush Administration launched the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System … [which had] … serious impacts on the targeted communities … [T]he lingering effects of the program continue to resonate within Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities."
One 2005 AILF report asserts that attempts to dispel what it terms "five basic myths about immigration." These are:
(a) Migration is Caused by Lack of Economic Development in Migrants' Home Countries: "International migrants do not originate in the world's poorest nations, but in those that are developing and growing dynamically. The largest single source of U.S. immigrants, Mexico, is not a poor nation by global standards."
(b) Migration is Caused by Rapid Population Growth in Migrants' Home Countries: "The fertility rate in Mexico is about 2.3 children per woman, which is only slightly above 'replacement' level."
(c) Migrants Move Mainly in Response to Differences in Wages: "Households use international migration as a tool to overcome failed or missing markets for insurance, capital, and credit at home." (d) Migrants Are Attracted to the United States by Generous Public Benefits: "Only 10 percent [of Mexican immigrants] say they have ever sent a child to U.S. public schools, 7 percent indicate they have received Supplemental Security Income, and 5 percent or less report ever using food stamps, welfare, or unemployment compensation."
(e) Most Immigrants Intend to Settle Permanently in the United States: "… three quarters [of Mexican immigrants] stayed less than two years."
In the spring of 2007, AILF released a report claiming that immigrants in the United States commit crimes at lower rates than do native-born Americans. The report reads, in part:
"Because many immigrants to the United States, especially Mexicans and Central Americans, are young men who arrive with very low levels of formal education, popular stereotypes tend to associate them with higher rates of crime and incarceration. The fact that many of these immigrants enter the country through unauthorized channels or overstay their visas often is framed as an assault against the 'rule of law,' thereby reinforcing the impression that immigration and criminality are linked. This association has flourished in a post-9/11 climate of fear and ignorance where terrorism and undocumented immigration often are mentioned in the same breath. ... In fact, data from the census and other sources show that for every ethnic group without exception, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants ... The problem of crime in the United States is not 'caused' or even aggravated by immigrants, regardless of their legal status. ... Given the cumulative weight of this evidence, immigration is arguably one of the reasons that crime rates have dropped in the United States over the past decade and a half. Indeed, a further implication of this evidence is that if immigrants suddenly disappeared and the country became immigrant-free (and illegal-immigrant free), crime rates would likely increase."
Steven Ladik currently serves as AILF President. Previously, Ladik was President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a major financial backer of AILF and a fellow advocate of open borders agendas. Under Ladik's stewardship, AILF recommends "a comprehensive legalization program to allow undocumented immigrants in the United States to obtain legal status."
AILF's Executive Director is Andrew J. Prazuch, who previously worked as a policy specialist for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The Director of AILF's Legal Action Center, Nadine K. Wettstein, was the lead counsel in INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, where she argued against the deportation of a native Guatemalan who had fled to the United States after having burned buses and assaulted passengers in his homeland.
