Practice Areas

IMMIGRATION, TRAVEL & TOURISM

Travel into and within the U.S. – to work, visit, or study – has become a crucial component for American competitiveness and a key policy issue for a wide range of companies and organizations. The threat of terrorism and concerns about illegal immigration, espionage, and pandemic threats, however, have created intense pressure to regulate the flow of workers, customers, employees, students, and tourists. Likewise, increasing regulation and concerns about man-made and natural disasters continue to affect the tourism industry and the position of the United States as a preeminent destination spot.

The federal government has deployed a vast array of programs to attempt to facilitate legitimate travelers while stopping those who would do us harm or choose to disobey our laws. In addition, the nation’s immigration and visa systems are complex and affect a myriad of workers across skill levels. Understanding and influencing these programs and systems require unique insight.

Monument Policy Group’s Immigration, Travel, and Tourism Practice utilizes our team’s relationships and expertise to develop strategic approaches for influencing immigration and travel policies that affect the movement of people into and within the U.S. and across international boundaries. Our clients in this area have included tourism and business travel associations, think-tanks, immigration coalitions and alliances, corporations, and online travel companies.

Our team includes Monument Policy's Group's founding partner, Stewart Verdery, who served as the first Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning at DHS. In that capacity, he led efforts to develop and implement policies related to immigration, visa policy, travel facilitation, and transportation security. Partner Jessica Herrera-Flanigan served as the Staff Director and General Counsel for the House Committee on Homeland Security, where she managed the Committee’s legislative, policy, and oversight activities. She is also a Past-President of the Hispanic Bar Association of D.C., where she worked on immigration issues affecting the Hispanic community.

Monument Policy Group maintains close relationships with federal agencies with immigration, travel and tourism responsibilities, including the Department of Commerce, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Transportation Security Administration, US-VISIT, the U.S. Coast Guard, the DHS Office of Policy, the Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and all White House offices with a role in policy development, coordination, and funding.

Building on years of bipartisan service in the Congress, we additionally have excellent relationships with key Congressional Committees in both the Senate and the House, including those responsible for homeland security, judiciary, commerce, transportation, foreign affairs, and appropriations.

 REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Serve as a primary consulting resource for the broadest U.S. travel association, for whom we have developed and helped implement a blueprint to improve the visa and entry process for international travelers, successfully expanded visa-free travel to the U.S., advocated for a landmark travel promotion campaign, and advised on a myriad of security, capacity, tax, and regulatory issues.

• Serve as Executive Director of a coalition focused on the education, recruitment and retention of skilled talent in the United States and from around the world.

• Represent the world’s largest software company on employment-based visa issues.

• Represent technology companies selling products and services designed to protect international travel

• Represent technology companies on immigration systems issues and credentialing programs.

• Support a non-profit sports committee on security-related and border issues.

• Assist a leading online travel provider with tax and regulatory issues, as well as climate issues.

• Assist a trade association with travel issues related to Asia-Pacific business travel.

• Acted as the chief lobbyist for the leading business travel organization in the world, for whom we supported legislation to assist business travelers including a new trusted traveler program for international travelers, advocated for travel infrastructure, and spoken before dozens of client events around the world on travel issues.

• Acted as executive director for two years for the federal advisory Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee on behalf of the committee co-chair, including drafting a comprehensive report to improve U.S. travel policy

• Advocated for the leading bar association of immigration practitioners.

• Represented a business coalition supporting comprehensive immigration reform.

• Developed a legislative and agency strategy in support of the Registered Traveler program for the largest RT provider.