I arrived tonight in Chicago for the four-day annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Packed full of informative sessions led by expert practitioners in every segment of immigration law, I come here every other year to get an infusion of the latest and greatest knowledge about what’s happening in the agencies.

Even though the Immigration Law Clinic mostly practices humanitarian immigration and removal defense, this year I’ll be listening hardest for what the employment-based immigration experts are saying about the agencies’ efforts to attract and retain foreign talent in AI and other critical STEM fields.

Biden’s executive order on AI from last October made clear that the agencies would prioritize and streamline applications for EB-1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability or Outstanding Researcher applications, as well as EB-2 National Interest Waiver self-petitions for graduates with research in AI and other critical STEM fields. The order also talked about reviewing and streamlining processes for avoiding interruptions for AI and STEM experts on nonimmigrant visas, facilitating those nonimmigrants to adjust to permanent residence, and establishing criteria for regularly updating the list of critical skills.

These are not Business As Usual changes. DHS and State have not in a long, long time been instructed to find creative regulatory channels to get as many tech workers here as possible, as quickly as possible. The intelligence I’ve heard says that these applications are indeed getting approved widely and rapidly.

I’m eager to pick the brains of the people who represent these types of clients every day. Where we are on immigration is a weathervane for where we’re going on AI.