Emily Creighton
Emily Creighton is the Deputy Legal Director at the American Immigration Council. She oversees the development of the Council’s legal education, non-litigation advocacy, and Freedom of Information Act work, and supports the Immigration Justice Campaign. Prior to her new role at the Council, she served as the Senior Advisor on Humanitarian Programs at the CIS Ombudsman’s Office from 2016 to 2017. Previous to that, she was a Senior Staff Attorney with the Council. As a staff attorney, she engaged in impact litigation, representing amicus curiae in immigration cases in federal court and before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and authored numerous practice advisories. Emily holds a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and a B.A. from Boston College.
Each year on September 17, America marks Citizenship Day, an annual opportunity to reflect on the benefits and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. In years past, it was used as a day to celebrate new Americans and encourage others who are eligible to become U.S. citizens. However, this year is different, as the security associated with […]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a decision on continuances in immigration court that both recognized their importance and decried their alleged overuse. This decision will have widespread implications for immigration court process. The case, Matter of L-A-B-R-, addresses circumstances under which an immigration judge can continue a case so a person in removal proceedings may […]
The forced separation of children from their parents by U.S. government officials has created a human rights disaster. Children—some just a few months old—continue to be housed in tent cities, shelters, and foster care while their parents desperately await word of their children’s whereabouts. In some cases, parents are deported without their children. Recent days […]
The Trump administration continued its shortsighted attack on businesses this week, indicating it will end a rule allowing foreign entrepreneurs to grow start-up companies in the United States. The International Entrepreneur Rule (IER) was designed to bring the talent, ideas, and initiative of foreign entrepreneurs to the United States by easing the process for them […]
A newly-released document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) shows that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is making radical changes to the immigration court system that deliberately contradict the recommendations given to the department by its own independent evaluators. The recommendations were made in an April 2017 Booz Allen Hamilton report commissioned by […]
To shed light on the cruel and unlawful practice of family separation, a group of immigrant rights organizations filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to multiple government agencies this week. The groups seek agency records underlying an unconscionable practice where immigration officials at the border purposefully divide families–taking children from their parents […]
In another victory for over 300 Iraqis whose deportation was halted last July, a Michigan district court ruled that they must be permitted to seek bond while their immigration cases are pending. Many of the Iraqis were swept up in a massive enforcement action in June 2017 and have remained in detention since that time. […]
In a sweeping decision, a federal judge ruled the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) could not continue to prevent approximately 2,000 noncitizen Army Reserve soldiers from applying for citizenship. The case centers on the treatment of noncitizen soldiers who benefited from the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program. MAVNI, established in 2008, […]
In a move to reduce the number of times immigration judges reschedule immigration hearings, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) recently issued guidance suggesting judges should change practices regarding “continuances.” A continuance, which only may be granted for “good cause,” is a critically important option for individuals who seek a level playing field in […]
A federal court in Tucson, Arizona held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must answer allegations of horrific conditions experienced by individuals in Tucson Sector detention facilities (a.k.a. “hieleras”) along the southern border. In decisions handed down on January 11, the court decided that the case, Doe V. Johnson, may proceed as a class […]
