A
nnaluisa Padilla, an immigration lawyer from
La Habra in California, has been elected as the
president of the American Immigration Lawyers
Association for the 2017-2018 term.
She knows immigration first hand. She came to the
United States from Guatemala with her parents in 1983.
After getting her undergraduate degree from UCLA, she
earned her law degree from Whittier Law School in 1997
and then started her own practice in 2002. Her practice
is focused on humanitarian relief including asylum,
VAWA and representing unaccompanied minors.
“Being AILA’s president is a great accomplishment in my
life’s journey as an immigrant to the United States,” Padilla
said. “At the same time, it carries the responsibility to work
tirelessly through advocacy and other efforts, leading our
members in all of our work to ensure that the important
principles of due process and fairness are reflected in all
our immigration policies and laws.”
WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND?
I graduated from Whittier Law School in 1997. My
undergraduate studies took place at UCLA, where I
majored in German. After graduating from UCLA and
prior to starting my career as an attorney, I worked in
the entertainment industry for 12 years. I spent nine
years at Warner Bros and three years at Sony Pictures
Entertainment overseeing the international localization
of U.S. films for foreign distribution.
This involved negotiating with companies in charge of
translating film dialogue, hiring of voice-over actors,
directors and subtitling companies to localize films and
repackage them in various languages around the world.
I traveled to Europe and Latin America to oversee these
operations and negotiated with companies for their
respective services. In 2002, I left the industry to start
my law firm focusing on immigration and family law.
Some of my first clients were companies seeking to
hire foreign nationals under H and L visas.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO
ACHIEVE IN YOUR NEW
ROLE AS PRESIDENT OF AILA?
The immigration landscape has changed over the
past several years with anti-immigrant sentiment
intensifying as a result of myths and untruths that have
been spread about immigrants. One of my priorities
as AILA president is to help dispel the myths about
immigration and immigrants in general, reiterating the
fact that immigration builds stronger communities
and is vital to our economy, and our ability to remain
a competitive player in the global market. In addition,
I hope to see AILA solidify its place as the preeminent
bar association of immigration attorneys and the go-to
for experts in our field.
HOW MANY MEMBERS DOES AILA
HAVE AND WHAT IS THE MISSION OF
THE ORGANIZATION?
We have more than 15,000 members nationwide
and around the globe. Our mission is to promote
justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration
law and policy, advance the quality of immigration
and nationality law and practice, and enhance the
professional development of our members.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS AILA’S
PRIORITIES IN THE COMING YEAR?
The Trump administration has been laser focused on
immigration since the inauguration, so one of our priorities
this year is to ensure our members have the necessary
information and tools to respond to new policies and
the agencies’ arbitrary and capricious demands during
the adjudication process. We are also ensuring our
members have the skills and expertise to challenge
erroneous and unjustifiable adjudications through the
federal court system.
In addition, we must challenge the pervasive false
rhetoric about immigration and refocus the conversation.
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