U.S. immigration lawyer Kelli Stump chose to pursue a career in immigration law after witnessing an unjust situation involving an immigrant. Twenty years later, she’s a front-row witness to the challenges within the U.S. immigration court system and processing delays. As the new president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), she aims to change the negative narrative surrounding U.S. immigration to influence Congress for reform. Despite the frustrations of working under the current system, she encourages immigration attorneys and foreign nationals seeking to immigrate to the U.S. to persevere.
What inspired you to become an immigration lawyer, and how has your experience shaped your perspective on immigration issues?
I grew up in immigration law. My father was probably one of the founding immigration attorneys in Oklahoma City. He got into immigration law. So, I spent years in an immigration law office as a child. He would pay me to file documents and answer phones. But I didn’t want to be a lawyer. I wanted to be a journalist, and I even got into Journalism in college. Then I went to Law school. But I didn’t want to be an immigration lawyer at first. I wanted to be a corporate lawyer. I got a cool job in Dallas, TX, interning there. But there was this immigrant who was suing a company, and they called me and asked how they could get this guy deported so he couldn’t have standing any longer to sue in court. And it broke my heart. So, I called my dad and asked him for a job, and I’ve been practicing immigration law ever since.
What side of immigration law did you start with? Have you continued in the same line or expanded to other aspects of its practice?
I primarily started doing family-based immigration with a lot of I-601 waiver work. I’ve since expanded into a major deportation practice focusing on criminal immigration issues. I love arguing words, and I love saying that the words of the statute in Oklahoma don’t match those of the statute under federal law. I also do a lot of consular practice because of the waiver, which requires working with embassies abroad to get people to return to the United States. I used to do employment-based work for extraordinary ability visas in the arts.
What are the most pressing immigration issues facing the industry today?
Working through the immigration courts, the Executive Office of Immigration Review. They’re just so overworked. There are 300 and some odd judges for over 3.5 million cases. I haven’t even checked the last number of cases in deportation proceedings. It becomes incredibly difficult from a patience standpoint because you’ll get to court, and the court won’t have the file. Our court is in Dallas, TX. That’s a four-hour drive for me and my clients. And if they don’t allow us to appear via Webex, it’s just a waste of a day. It’s the same with the USCIS and the processing of the I-601A waivers right now. Those are at 42 months. Managing client expectations and keeping them happy while getting these cases filed can be exhausting.
What do you hope to achieve during your tenure as the new president of AILA to support and advocate for immigrants and their rights?
I’m leading the organization but it’s a team effort. Working with this recent parole-in-place program for family unity, the staff has been incredible, so I like being a part of that. Public policy is a big deal. I’m also working with the [American Immigration Council] AIC to try change the narrative. Right now, there’s this big negative narrative, primarily with the border crisis and individuals living here unlawfully. But [some] people are already here, and [some] who are fleeing violence. They’re human beings, and it’s humanity that we’re looking at. If we could somehow change that public narrative on immigration, it could change Congress because they’d be looking at what their people say. If the people are saying, ‘We need immigration reform,’ then maybe Congress will finally start listening.
It’s basic, and it’s not just for undocumented immigrants. We look at our legal immigration and employment immigration. The fact that we have not had an increase in visa numbers in years is ridiculous, considering we are such a global economy.
We must change the narrative and people. There are so many jobs with huge or low unemployment rates, and we still need workers.
How are you trying to change the current immigration narrative?
I think it’s just getting the individual stories out there. We’re working a lot with advocacy groups, especially on the parole in place for the litigation, saying, “This isn’t somebody who’s just, like, crossed the border yesterday. This is someone who’s been here for ten years. They’re married to U.S. citizens. They have children; they have mortgages.”
We’re working with the [AIC], a partner and sister council to AILA, to get the story out.
How are your efforts working under the current immigration system?
Working under the current immigration system is awful and frustrating. We’re down immigration attorneys, even though we’re up on AILA members. A study has said fewer and fewer people are joining the immigration bar because of the red tape and roadblocks.
What message would you like to convey to the immigration attorney community about the importance of their work?
We can unite as a force and be a unified front. There’s strength in numbers. To the immigration attorneys who are burnt out or the new ones considering whether to continue doing this, I say to them, “Never give up,” even though it will take a long time. It’s for a better cause: for our clients and employers who need employees. It’s for the citizen’s spouses or permanent resident spouses who want to live with their family. The reward is far greater than the misery of getting there.
What message would you send to foreign nationals attempting to immigrate to the U.S.?
I think they’ll be very disappointed in the way they’re treated as U.S. immigrants when they’re trying to better their lives. But again, the message is don’t give up. The U.S. is wonderful, and most people here are wonderful, so it will be worth it if they’re willing to stick with it and fight for their case.
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