• Immigration Attorney, Gafner Law Firm–New York City
• Former Judicial Clerk, Northern District of New York
• Author, Numerous Immigration Articles Published in Bender’s Immigration Bulletin and Fordham Urban Law Journal

Chris E. Gafner is an immigration attorney practicing in New York City.  Following graduation from law school, Gafner served as a judicial clerk in the Northern District of New York.  Thereafter, he began working in New York City and quickly determined he would have a more meaningful and fulfilling career helping immigrants contribute to America’s economic and cultural growth.  To that end he founded Gafner Law Firm, PC.  Gafner has authored numerous immigration articles focused on improving America’s ability to attract the best and brightest immigrants to the United States, including Attracting the Best and Brightest: A Critique of the Current U.S. Immigration System and AAO Makes Proving Extraordinary Ability Extraordinarily Hard to Prove.  Gafner received a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.

“Ambitious, intelligent people have long sought to immigrate to the United States.
The United States has long reaped the benefits of talented immigrants.”
Chris E. Gafner, Esq.

• Adjunct Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
• Former Senior Legal Counselor, Washington Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• 2010 Recipient, AILA Colorado Public Service Award

Regina Germain has practiced in the field of asylum law for over 20 years as a practitioner, an advocate and a law professor.  She is Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, teaching asylum law and asylum law practicum.  She has also taught asylum law and practice at the Georgetown University Law Center.  Germain is a member of the ABA’s Commission on Immigration Advisory Committee and Chair of the Asylum Committee for AILA Colorado. She is a former legal director of the Rocky Mountain Survivors Center in Denver, Colorado.  She also worked as an attorney for the Central American Refugee Center in Houston, Texas and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Florence, Arizona.  She is the author of AILA’s Asylum Primer:  A Practical Guide to U.S. Asylum Law and Procedure.  Germain received an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she taught as a fellow in the Asylum Clinic.  She received a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and a B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

“Asylum officers and immigration judges are burdened with overloaded dockets
and a complex law to apply in asylum cases.”
Regina Germain, Esq.

• Founder, The Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco, California
• Author, Numerous Books and Articles on Immigration Policy and Race Relations
• Advisor, The Asian Law Caucus and the Asian American Justice Center

Bill Ong Hing is a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, where he teaches rebellious lawyering, immigration law and policy, evidence, and negotiation.  He started his legal career as a legal services attorney in San Francisco.  Throughout his career, he has pursued social justice by combining community work, litigation, and scholarship.  Hing is the author of numerous academic and practice-oriented publications on immigration policy and race relations.  His most recent book is Ethical Borders: NAFTA, Globalization, and Mexican Migration. Other books include Deporting Our Souls–Values, Morality, and Immigration Policy, Defining America Through Immigration Policy, Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy, Handling Immigration Cases, and Immigration and the Law–a Dictionary.  Hing was co-counsel in the precedent-setting Supreme Court asylum case, INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca.  Hing is founder of, and continues to volunteer as General Counsel for, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco.  He received an A.B. from UC Berkeley and a J.D. from the  University of San Francisco.

“There is a good argument that the United States has a historical debt to pay
for what it has done to the agricultural sector in Mexico.”
Bill Ong Hing, Esq.

• Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies
• Author, The New Case Against Immigration, BothLegal and Illegal and How Obama is Transforming America Through Immigration
• Contributor, National Review Online’s “The Corner”

Mark Krikorian is Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a research organization in Washington, D.C. that examines and critiques the impact of immigration on the United States.  Krikorian frequently testifies before Congress and has a number of books and articles to his name.  He is a contributor at National Review Online.  Krikorian is the author of The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal and How Obama is Transforming America Through Immigration and he’s the author of many op-eds and magazine articles, including Obama Would Be Wrong to Turn His Back on Immigration, Opinion: In Arizona, Courts Trump Lawmaking, Suing Arizona, Drop Amnesty Talk, Enforce Law,  Why Congress Falters on Immigration, DREAM On, and A Big Win for Immigration Control and Hispanic Outreach.  Krikorian received an M.A. from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a B.A. from Georgetown University.  He spent two years at Yerevan State University in then-Soviet Armenia.

“The Federal Government must crack down on states and cities that have in place ‘sanctuary’
laws prohibiting their officers from asking about immigration status or cooperating with ICE.”
Mark Krikorian

• Past National President and General Counsel, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
• Author, Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook
• Adjunct Faculty Member in Immigration Law, University of Miami School of Law and Nova University School of Law

Ira J. Kurzban is Partner in the law firm of Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger, Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A.  He is a past national president and former General Counsel of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  Kurzban was the first recipient of the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Award presented by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.  He is the recipient of the University of Miami’s Lawyers of the Americas Award for his work on behalf of human rights in this hemisphere.  Kurzban is also the recipient of the University of Miami’s Jack Wasserman Award for excellence in federal litigation, AILA’s Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in the advancement of immigration law, and the National Lawyers Guild’s Carol King Award for his efforts in immigration law.  In 1986, Kurzban was selected by Newsweek Magazine as one of 100 American heroes for his work on behalf of immigrants.  He was named an honorary fellow of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  Kurzban has litigated more than 50 federal cases concerning the rights of aliens and has argued before the United States Supreme Court.  He is the author of the popular Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook.  Kurzban received a J.D. and an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

“Securing the borders is often a euphemism for keeping Mexican citizens
and other immigrant groups permanently out of the U.S.”
Ira J. Kurzban, Esq.

• Former Attorney-Adviser, Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Recipient, Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration, Center for Immigration Studies
• Recipient, Civilian Valor Award, New Jersey State Law Enforcement Officers Association

Heather Mac Donald is  Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Contributing Editor of City Journal.  She clerked for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Mac Donald has testified before Congress on a number of occasions, including testimony before the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the Committee of the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives; the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims; the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.  Mac Donald has been a recipient of the New Jersey State Law Enforcement Officers Association’s Civilian Valor Award and the New York State Shields’ Integrity in Journalism award.  She was also awarded the Bradley Prize for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement.  Mac Donald received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Cambridge University and a J.D. from Stanford University Law School.

“The vast majority of illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. since 1986
have been low-skilled, low-educated Mexicans and Central Americans.”

A special thank you to those assisting the authors.