Amelia Steadman McGowan is the Immigration Campaign Director at the Mississippi Center for Justice and is also an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law, where she teaches Immigration Law and has directed the school’s Immigration Clinic since its founding in 2016. Amelia previously worked at Catholic Charities of Jackson, where she served as the Program Director of the agency’s immigration legal services program. As an immigration attorney, Amelia has focused her practice on asylum representation and immigration appeals, representing clients before the Board of Immigration Appeals, federal circuit courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to her direct client representation, Amelia has also worked to coordinate and mentor Mississippi pro bono attorneys to represent Mississippi immigrants in removal proceedings as well as organize community outreach and education sessions on immigration-related topics throughout the state. Amelia is a graduate of Tulane University, where she received her J.D. and M.A. in Latin American Studies, as well as the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned her B.A. in History and Spanish and participated in study abroad/cultural exchange programs in Vietnam and Panama.

George Ernst is a Director at Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon and Galchus, and is an accomplished business immigration attorney with over ten years of experience representing foreign nationals and multi-national corporations across various industries, including technology and health care. His practice focuses on advising clients in highly technical and complex matters relating to the employment of foreign nationals, including EB-1 petitions, National Interest Waiver Petitions, PERM Labor Certifications and other nonimmigrant visas, including H-1B, L, O-1 and TN visas. Mr. Ernst also represents clients in complicated EB-5 petitions and investment visas, including E-2 investment visas.  Complimenting his immigration practice, Mr. Ernst also supports the Firm’s Employment Defense practice group in zealously advocating for employers in the growing area of government-initiated I-9 audits and charges. 

Dayna Wheatley graduated from the IIT Chicago Kent College of Law in November, 2003.  She externed with the Chicago Immigration Court prior to working as a sole practitioner in Chicago for 10 years.  In 2013, Dayna moved to Nashville and worked for the Community Law Group, PLLC for one year and for the Rose Immigration Law Firm for two years.  She moved to Louisiana to be with family in 2016 and once again opened her own law practice.  Dayna practices family- and employment-based immigration, along with removal defense.

Jason Susser is an attorney at Siskind Susser PC, where his practice focuses exclusively on immigration and nationality law mostly in the field of employment and family based immigration. Jason works extensively with entrepreneurs to find creative immigration solutions for startup companies in the US. He works with companies ranging from the solo entrepreneur to the Fortune 500. He also advises startup accelerators and universities working with entrepreneurial students, as well as, a number of US and foreign venture capital firms. Jason co-authored the book, Immigration for Startups: A Guide for Founders, and is regularly invited to speak about startups and immigration. Jason currently serves AILA as Vice Chair of the Midsouth chapter and liaison to the USCIS Memphis Field Office.

Logan Luquette is a lead attorney out of the New Orleans, Louisiana office for the Anderson Immigration Law Group. Mr. Luquette handles complex removal defense matters in both detained and non-detained settings. Specifically, Mr. Luquette has handled matters in the Louisiana detained courts, the El Paso detained court, the Chapparal NM court, the Eloy AZ detained court, the San Diego detained court, Miami Florida, York Pennsylvania and courts all along the Texas/Mexico border. Mr. Luquette is licensed in the State of Louisiana and is a member of AILA and the Midsouth Chapter.

Matt Boles is a Direct Services Attorney for the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He is a 2017 graduate from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. He primarily represents clients at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, GA. He has spoken at three AILA conferences in the past. 

Charles Wall is Deputy Chief Counsel to the Office of the Chief Counsel, New Orleans. Charles Wall started his practice as a felony prosecutor in New Orleans, conducting over a hundred jury trials. Leaving state prosecution, he joined the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement as an Assistant Chief Counsel in the Oakdale sub-office of the New Orleans Office of Chief Counsel. In that capacity, he litigated cases involving criminal aliens in deportation proceedings and handled all national-security designated cases. From 2014 to early 2016, Charles was responsible for advising ICE’s criminal investigative branch, Homeland Security Investigations, regularly handling cases involving criminal law, customs law, and immigration law. Since May of 2016, Charles became the Deputy Chief Counsel where he is responsible for managing the New Orleans location of the I.C.E. Office of Principal Legal Advisor. Charles earned his B.A. in History from the University of New Orleans and his J.D. from Tulane University.

Laura Ferner is a partner with Crouch, Harwell, Fryar and Ferner, PLLC in Springdale, Arkansas. Ms. Ferner limits her practice to immigration law and represents clients all over the country, particularly on family immigration matters, consular processing, waivers and in cases involving public charge issues.

Stacie Hammond is the Senior Immigration Attorney at Latino Memphis, where she has worked for 5 years. Stacie represents clients in affirmative cases with USCIS, including relative petitions, asylum, U and T nonimmigrant status, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Before the Memphis Immigration Courts, Stacie represents clients seeking Asylum, Cancellation of Removal, and Adjustment of Status. In addition to her direct client services, Stacie oversees a team of an attorney, a law clerk, a paralegal, and a legal assistant. Prior to joining Latino Memphis, Stacie served as the Attorney Advisor at the Memphis Immigration Court from 2013-2015.

Hiroko Kusuda is Clinic Professor and Director of the Immigration Law Section of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Center for Social Justice. Prior to joining Loyola, Professor Kusuda was a Detention Attorney at Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). During her tenure at CLINIC, she represented hundreds of detained immigrants before the Oakdale Immigration Court and conducted the Know Your Rights immigration program at Louisiana detention centers. Professor Kusuda is a co-founder of the Louisiana Immigrant Representation Working Group (LIRWG) and serves as the chair of the Special Immigrant Juvenile Sub-Group of LIRWG. She is a member of AILA, the Louisiana State Bar Association, and Federal Bar Association. Professor Kusuda received Gillis Long Poverty Law Center’s Public Service Award in 2014 and Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award from American Immigration Lawyers Association in 2016.

Alicia Triche is a sole proprietor at Triche Immigration Appeals in Memphis, TN.  For the past several years, she has focused almost exclusively on appellate immigration work, but she also has extensive experience with immigration court proceedings, family and ‘dreamer’ applications, and refugee applications.  In 2014, she helped to co-found MidSouth Immigration Advocates, and served as their first Executive Director.  Until August, 2010, Dr. Triche served as part-time staff immigration attorney at the Memphis Community Legal Center, where she designed and taught an Immigration Clinic as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis law school.  Dr. Triche frequently authors columns in the Federal Lawyer magazine and edits the "Green Card" newsletter.  She has published on the constitutional implications of local immigration law enforcement and the U.S. detention of asylum seekers. Dr. Triche began her career as a detention attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) in Oakdale, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California. In 2019, she released an indie blues EP, "Ungodly Blues," under her stage name, Delta Ondine.

Brandon Riches attended University of Mississippi School of Law, graduating in 2016. Following graduation, Mr. Riches clerked for the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court before moving to the gulf coast to begin private practice. Mr. Riches has practiced immigration law since 2018 where he first focused on removal defense for detained cases and family petitions. Over the last three years, Mr. Riches developed a deeper understanding of all immigration laws and practice areas. He began handling his firm’s appellate docket before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals over the last year. He also manages the firm’s family docket where the focus is on obtaining predicate orders in state court to assist minors who are eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Mr. Riches sits on the Board of Directors for Jackson County CASA, assisting youth in foster care with their court hearings. He also serves on the Board for the Young Lawyers Division for the Mississippi Bar.  

Misty Wilson Borkowski a director in the Little-Rock based firm of Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C., dedicates her legal practice to immigration law, assisting both employers and individuals. She is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, Pulaski County Bar Association and American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Misty graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a B.A. degree in International Studies in 1993 and received her Juris Doctor in 1996. She was admitted to the Arkansas Bar in 1997 and to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas in 1998. She is appointed by the United States District Court, Eastern District as a member of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel (2009-2021). She has lived, studied and traveled in Spain and Mexico. Misty, who is fluent in Spanish, has been selected by the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock (2018-present) as an attorney to participate in the “PALE” program. She is a member of Executive Networking Organization (ENO), having also served as two years as President (2018-2019). She previously served for 10 years as a Commissioner to the Little Rock Sister Cities Commission, serving as the Liaison to Changchun, Little Rock’s sister city in China. She is currently on the Executive Board for the Overton Inns of Court (2013-present) and is serving on the Content Committee for the AILA MidSouth Chapter Fall Conference (2021).

Stephen Pattison is an attorney and nationally recognized expert in U.S. immigration law, Department of State policy and procedures, and consular operations. Mr. Pattison had a distinguished twenty-eight-year career with the State Department, serving as a consular officer and manager in overseas postings in Beirut, Colombo, Bangkok, Bucharest, Brussels, and Berlin, and in Washington in the Visa Office and the Bureaus of Near Eastern and Inter-American Affairs. Mr. Pattison is a member of the State Bar of Texas and an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  He was a founding member of AILA’s Rome District Chapter, where he has served as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Chair, and Chair, and has served for several years as a member of AILA’s Department of State Liaison Committee.  He also served on AILA’s Global Migration Steering Group and has for the past two years been a member of AILA’s Business Immigration Response Team.

Lily S. Axelrod is a Spanish-speaking associate attorney at Siskind Susser, PC, a full-service immigration firm in Memphis, TN.  Her practice focuses on removal defense and family-based immigration, especially for clients with criminal records or complex immigration histories. She also participates in the firm’s impact litigation challenging the government’s extreme delays and unlawful interpretation of the nation’s immigration laws. After graduating with honors from Harvard Law School, Ms. Axelrod practiced removal and criminal defense at Masferrer & Associates in Boston.  She defended clients before state and federal courts, including appeals and post-conviction relief. Ms. Axelrod serves as the liaison to the Memphis Immigration Court for the Mid-South Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She was proud to receive AILA’s Sam Williamson Mentor Award in June 2021. 

Fatma Marouf is Professor of Law and Director of Immigrants Rights Clinic at the Texas A&M Law School. 

Igrid Eagly is a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where she teaches immigration law and other courses. Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA, Eagly served as a trial attorney for the Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles and a Soros Fellow at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Earlier in her career, she clerked for the Honorable David H. Coar in the Northern District of Illinois and was a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. She earned her A.B. in public policy from Princeton University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Eagly and has co-authored several publications with the American Immigration Council and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). 

Ari J. Sauer represents corporate and individual clients in all areas of U.S. immigration law. Mr. Sauer assists businesses to obtain visas, permanent residence and citizenship for their employees and their families. Mr. Sauer also assists U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents with sponsoring their family members for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, as well as assisting individuals to become US citizens. Mr. Sauer is a former Elected Director of the Board of Governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Mr. Sauer has previously served as Chapter Chair of the AILA Mid South Chapter, which includes the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana. He regularly speaks about immigration law for AILA and the Federal Bar Association and has contributed a number of articles on immigration publications. Mr. Sauer regularly answers questions on immigration law in his blog, The Immigration Answer Man.

Greg Siskind is a founding partner of Siskind Susser, PC – Immigration Lawyers and has been practicing law since 1990. He is also the author of a number of immigration-related pieces of legislation and has testified as an expert in front of the US House of Representatives Immigration Subcommittee.