Hillary Walsh, founder of New Frontier Immigration Law and a noted TEDx speaker, examined the unintended consequences of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 when she visited North Carolina for a September Elon Law Review program.
Thirty years after Congress enacted sweeping changes to U.S. immigration law, an immigration attorney urged legal scholars and practitioners at an Elon Law Review program to reconsider whether a system built heavily around punishment and deterrence has achieved its goals.
Speaking at a symposium focused on the topic of immigration law, noted immigration attorney Hillary Walsh examined the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which created or expanded penalties including bars preventing some undocumented immigrants from lawfully returning to the United States for years.
Walsh argued that three decades of experience raise questions about whether those measures have deterred unauthorized immigration. She cited estimates that the undocumented population increased from 5.7 million in the mid-1990s to about 14 million in 2023.
The founder and managing attorney of New Frontier Immigration Law illustrated the consequences through the story of “Gilbert,” a longtime client from Mexico whose efforts to visit an ailing parent ultimately subjected him to immigration penalties. After returning to the United States, Gilbert worked without authorization and experienced labor exploitation that the speaker described as human trafficking.
Rather than abandoning enforcement, Walsh proposed broadening access to unlawful presence waivers, potentially considering factors such as whether applicants paid taxes. She argued such changes could reward desired behavior while preserving consequences for immigration violations.
Her talk, “The Complexities of Immigration Policy,” was among the highlights of an annual Elon Law Review symposium attended in downtown Greensboro, N.C., on Sept. 25, 2026, by dozens of attorneys, advocates, and Elon Law students and faculty.
Walsh, who also serves as a law professor and is a nationally recognized TEDx speaker on immigration law and policy, called for immigration policy to respond more directly to U.S. workforce needs, including declining birth rates and the retirement of baby boomers. Immigration, she said, could help address labor shortages if policies relied more heavily on economic data.
Ultimately, she urged lawyers and policymakers to approach immigration reform with less judgment and greater empathy.
“If we can’t come to the table and remove the judgment of a stranger we have never met,” she asked, “how can we create immigration policy for the love of our country?”
The 2026 Elon Law Review symposium was designed to analyze how borders, power, and the rule of law has led to various challenges within immigration law. Topics discussed by panelists included evolving borders, family law, policy changes, employment, seeking asylum, and humanitarianism throughout the United States.
Rose Peterson L’26, Abigail MacKnight L’26 and Lauren Collins L’26 led the development and management of the program as Elon Law Review symposium co-editors, and Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer welcomed attendees to the symposium.
“If this is your first time here at Elon Law, welcome. If you’re returning to us, thank you for making Elon Law part of your professional lives,” Kramer said. “It is very important to us, though a private school, that we be public-facing, and that we have lots of opportunities to educate the community about some of the most pressing issues in our society. Today’s conversation absolutely fits the bill.
“I hope you engage, I hope you ask hard questions, and I hope you push each other. Hopefully we can make the world a little bit better by the end of the day.”
Panels and Presentations at ‘A Changing Landscape: Immigration Law in the 21st Century’
Seeking Asylum – Hands-On Immigration Law
- Heather Scavone, Assistant Professor of Law and former Associate Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, U.S.C.I.S.,
- Dara Arroyo-Longoria L’22, Attorney at McKinney Immigration Law
American Immigration
- Jordin Dickerson, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public
Administration at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke - Tolulope Falokun, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Detroit
Mercy School of Law - Allen Orr Jr., Founder and Principal Attorney of Orr Immigration Law Firm
The Family Immigration Landscape
- Kailey Houck, Judicial Law Clerk for Justice Melissa Hart and Justice Susan Blanco of the Colorado State Supreme Court
- Maria Rosales, Executive Director of FaithAction International
