Letter from the Editor-in-chief of the Aila Law Journal and President of Aila

• Publication year: 2022

Letter From the Editor-in-Chief of the AILA Law Journal and President of AILA

Allen Orr and Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

We are thrilled to bring you the Spring 2022 issue of the AILA Law Journal and celebrate the 75th Anniversary year of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Our 75th Anniversary issue includes additional mediums that showcase the creative outlets or talents of our authors, reflections on being an AILA immigration attorney, and on those we have lost.

Allen: My story with AILA begins at 918 F Street NW, in Washington, DC. I still remember the national office's faxes and the staff-operated elevator. What I remember more than the classic infrastructure is the members who had a profound effect on my life. My first leadership position was Washington, DC, Chapter Young Lawyer Division (YLD) Co-Chair with the amazing Stacy Shore. That position led to me serving on the National YLD steering committee where I met my AILA lifelong friends, Gayle Oshrin, Aimee Clark, and Hamel Vyas. Our goal was to expand AILA's table. As the 75th president of AILA—and the association's first Black and Gay president—I am proud to represent that expansion. We have made our association a supportive and inclusive environment ready to meet the growing demands and challenges of the practice of immigration law.
Shoba: I have fond memories of joining AILA more than 20 years ago, while living in Washington, DC, and working the late Michael Maggio, who at the time was President of the DC chapter. I remember walking with colleagues from the Dupont Circle office to the Marriot hotel for monthly chapter meetings, at which rubber chicken but rich discussion followed. It was during this time I was fortunate to meet Allen, who, like me, was practicing immigration law in downtown DC I am also grateful that Michael encouraged all of his attorneys to attend the national AILA conferences and recall how important the conferences were in the early years and beyond. Forwarding to 2022, and year three as the Editor-in-Chief for the AILA Law Journal, I feel very fortunate to bridge the many dimensions of immigration.

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The 75th Anniversary issue of the AILA Law Journal exemplifies these dimensions. In this issue Lisa Seifert talks about joining AILA while practicing as a solo attorney in Olympia, Washington, with a photo and a "thank you" note to AILA.

John Medeiros offers a historical account of immigration in his piece "The Huddled Masses," in which he offers a timeline that...