Nadine K. Wettstein is the director of the Legal Action Center of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF), a not-for-profit educational institution that defines its dual 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.” AILF – along with such organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the National Lawyers Guild – supports the open borders movement that advocates expanded rights and amnesty for illegal aliens residing the U.S., and the dissolution of all future restrictions on immigration. The Legal Action Center specifically litigates on behalf of illegal immigrants in their effort to win leniency from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Wettstein was the lead counsel in a high-profile case known as INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, where a U.S. court had to determine whether or not to grant asylum to illegal aliens who had committed “serious nonpolitical crimes” abroad. Wettstein litigated on behalf of a native Guatemalan named Juan Aguirre, who fled to the United States after having burned busses and assaulted passengers in Guatemala. The Board of Immigration Appeals sought Aguirre’s deportation, but Wettstein was instrumental in allowing the defendant to remain in the U.S.

Wettstein and her associates seek to create legal precedence in the realm of immigration law, with the ultimate objective of making it easier for future illegals to enter the United States – their cases buttressed by the rulings handed down in INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre.