Americans for Immigrant Justice’s News Archive

Film Producer  Nan Bush is an accomplished producer and longtime creative collaborator of renowned fashion photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber, to whom she is married. Together, they have built a legacy in both fashion and film, with Nan playing a pivotal role behind the scenes as a producer, agent, and curator.  Nan Bush began her career in the creative arts …

Founding Board Chair – Americans for Immigrant Justice   Real Estate & Development Special ISD Advisor Miami-Dade County, Florida  Raquel Matas is a seasoned legal professional with over four decades of experience in real estate law, higher education administration, and public service. She currently serves as the Real Estate & Development Special ISD Advisor for Miami-Dade County, where she provides strategic …

Senior Partner – Squire, Patton & Boggs Former Chair – American Conservative Union  Al Cardenas is nationally recognized for his leadership in the law, business and politics. He has served as an advisor to U.S. Presidents, as counsel of record in a number of precedent-setting and published court decisions and as a commentator and writer on issues of national importance.  …

Co-Founder and Executive Director Emerita  Cheryl Little was the Executive Director and co-founder of the Americans for Immigrant Justice, formerly Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.  Her extensive involvement in immigration issues dates to 1985 when, as an honors law school graduate, she began working at the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami, becoming one of the nation’s leading advocates for Haitians in …

Former President/CEO – The Knight Foundation Hodding Carter III was a journalist who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President Jimmy Carter.   As a Mississippi newspaperman, he championed civil rights for Black Americans in the 1960s. As a Carter administration official, he was the nation’s prime source of information on the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 …

Filmmaker   Alexandra Codina is a documentary filmmaker whose work takes an intimate approach to storytelling, avoiding talking heads and politics, to focus on the human experience. Her directorial and producing debut, Monica & David, is the love story of two adults with Down syndrome. The film premiered on HBO, was nominated for an Emmy award, and won Tribeca Film Festival’s …

Internationally Acclaimed Artist  Edouard Duval Carrié is a contemporary artist and curator based in Miami, Florida. Born and raised in Haiti, Duval Carrié fled the regime of “Papa Doc” Duvalier as a teenager and subsequently resided in locales as diverse as Puerto Rico, New York, Montreal, Paris and Miami. Parallels thus emerge between the artist’s cosmopolitan lifestyle and his artistic …

Former U.S. Senator Former Governor of Florida  Daniel Robert “Bob” Graham was a public servant for nearly four decades at the local, state and national level, becoming one of the most accomplished politicians in Florida’s history.  As first a state legislator, then governor and finally a three-term U.S. Senator, Senator Graham had a role in nearly every major public policy issue …

Academy Award-Winning Director Robert Jonathan Demme was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an Academy Award and a Directors Guild of America Award winner, and received nominations for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Independent Spirit Awards.  Jonathan Demme …

Actor, Director, Producer, Writer, and Activist Edward James Olmos is a Mexican American actor, director, producer, writer, and activist. He’s known for his distinctive features and gruff voice, and for roles like Lieutenant Martin “Marty” Castillo in Miami Vice and William Adama in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Olmos is also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and the executive director of …

Senior Chairman – Greenberg Traurig, LLP Cesar L. Alvarez is a Senior Chairman of Greenberg Traurig. He previously served as the firm’s Executive Chairman for more than three years and as its Chief Executive Officer for 13 years. During his tenure as CEO, which began in 1997, he directed the firm’s growth from 325 lawyers in eight offices to approximately 1850 …

By Syra Ortiz Blanes The Miami Herald witnessed cases being scheduled as far in advance as 2027 over the course of several visits to the South Florida court. An analysis of Department of Homeland Security data from researchers at Syracuse University shows that there were over 320,000 pending immigration cases here as of July 2024, the largest backlog in any …