Senior Associate, Petula McShiras, Begins Her Term as President of AILA (American Immigration Lawyer’s Association), Colorado Chapter
Petula McShiras begins her term as President of AILA Colorado. Petula was elected to this position by her peers and will serve in the senior leadership position for AILA for the next year. AILA is a national professional immigration lawyer’s association that does a great deal of advocacy, training and other work in order to improve our practice of immigration law and help our clients.
Below is a Q and A with Petula about her position.
What is AILA?
AILA or the American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of more than 16,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. Founded in 1946 (celebrating it’s 75th anniversary this year!), AILA is a not-for-profit organization that provides continuing legal education, information, professional services, and expertise through its 39 chapters and over 50 national committees. One such chapter is the Colorado chapter, which is comprised primarily of members who practice in Colorado and Wyoming. The Colorado chapter has over 300 active members.
What Kind of work does AILA do?
AILA was established 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 its members.” In this vein, it advocates to members of congress on issues regarding immigration policy, provides continuing education, practice advisories, and up-to-date policy guides on our ever-evolving immigration law, and strives to maintain the highest standard of professionalism, professional responsibility, and knowledge among its members.
How long have you been a member of AILA?
I have been a member of AILA since 2013. Although I have been a licensed lawyer since 2011, I couldn’t join AILA while I served as an Attorney Advisor for the Executive Office for Immigration Review. After I left government service and joined the private bar, I immediately joined AILA and became active on liaisons and committees within the AILA Colorado chapter.
How long have you served in elected roles?
I started as Secretary of AILA Colorado in Fall 2018 and have served on the Executive Committee since then, culminating in my position this year as Chair of AILA Colorado.
Can AILA help with “stuck” cases?
AILA has great resources for its attorney members for case assistance, policy advocacy, and agency issues. For example, when processing delays were noticed, AILA issued a call for examples. When individual members notice that one of the lockboxes is not sending receipts, they can alert AILA who can see whether it’s a systemwide issue. I have used AILA to get answers to systemic issues I notice in my practice.
Why is this work so important to you?
As Chair of AILA, I am in a unique position to truly advocate for the larger issues that we see within our immigration system on behalf of our members as well as the immigrant population. In addition, we are here to support our members and provide resources so that our members can provide the best quality representation we can.
During my time on the Executive Committee, we have issued press releases and held press conferences to bring attention to the disparate treatment of detainees at the GEO detention center in Aurora, CO during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have provided guidance to our members and clients regarding Afghanistan and Ukraine, we have supported members and organizations who have conducted application drives, such as for asylum, humanitarian parole, DACA, and Naturalization, and we have provided continuing legal education to our members to make sure they are staying up to date on the latest immigration changes.
We have an amazing chapter of immigration lawyers here in Colorado and I am proud and excited to lead them this year.