So What Does Prosecutorial Discretion Mean (for me)?
Well the calls and reports have started. Friends, clients and people I have not heard from in years, have started coming out of the woodwork. I even heard from someone that they heard a radio report that Pres. Obama passed a new law that will allow all illegal immigrants to stay in this country as [...]
A Reason For Hope…New Approach to Discretion!
I am cautiously excited by the announcements today regarding how discretion may be applied to those without other forms of relief from immigration proceedings. Still, my trust is so low for the administration, that even something that looks good has to be taken with a big grain of salt.
I first got the news from Senator [...]
End Secure Communities
I am sitting at the Homeland Security Advisory Council Task Force on Secure Communities Meeting in Chicago. Its time to end this overbroad, ineffectual, unauthorized program. It is a shame that victims are afraid to call the police. People have been stopped for small traffic offenses and then even with relief, are forced to leave. [...]
ARIZONA’S OWN VERSION OF MARCH MADNESS
AzulaySeiden Law Group is an experienced leader in US immigration law, committed to providing quality solutions and reliable multi-lingual service for businesses and individuals, with offices in Phoenix, Chicago (and two other locations in Illinois), Milwaukee, Tampa, Manila, Philippines; and Belgrade, Serbia. Our firm handles any matter related to immigration law including visa petitions, green [...]
ICE Enforcement Policies and Initiatives: Section 287 (g) “Partnerships” and “Secure Communities”
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was made law in the United States in 1995 as a result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Section 287(g) authorizes the Federal Government to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law [...]
ICE Enforcement Policies and Initiatives: Increased I-9 Audits and E-Verify Employment Authorization Checks
ICE Enforcement Policies and Initiatives: Increased I-9 Audits and E-Verify Employment Authorization Checks
Targeting employers is part of an effort by the Obama Administration to thwart illegal immigration by reducing the demand for illegal jobs. Under Obama, cases against employers are up sharply: Immigration and Customs Enforcement quadrupled the number of employer [...]
The Obama Administration, the Divided 112th Congress, the Political Theatrics of Immigration Issues, and Why Actions Speak Louder Than Words
President Obama on immigration in the State of the Union Address on January 25, 2011:
“One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They [...]
What Went Wrong in 2010 and the Political Possibilities for Immigration Law Reform in 2011
The difference between what we were promised on “CIR” (Comprehensive Immigration Reform) by Candidate Obama in 2008 and what we actually received from the Administration of President Obama and a Congress with a Democratic Party majority in both Houses is a difference between night and day. What policies were implemented by the Obama Administration, [...]
USCIS Monitoring Online Social Networking Sites to Investigate and Adjudicate Immigration Cases
You should never post anything about yourself online (Facebook, MySpace, etc) that you would not want your mother (or a USCIS Adjudications Officer) to see. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently received some documents as a result of its Freedom of Information Act {“FOIA”) lawsuit on government surveillance of social networks. Among the documents received [...]
Do You Need to Prepare a Legal Action Plan for Immigration?
If you were taken into custody by ICE, who would pick up your kids from school? Who would feed your dog? Who would contact your family? Who would secure your preferred legal counsel? Who would maintain or sell your home? How could your spouse or other family members gain access to your [...]
THE U.S. CONGRESS MUST PASS COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM SO THAT SO MANY STATES CAN STOP THEIR OWN FOOLISHNESS
The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has just issued a 188 page decision, affirming a 2007 Federal District Court decision barring the enforcement of the City of Hazleton’s (Pennsylvania) restrictive immigration laws, which sought to deny business permits to companies who hire undocumented immigrants, fine landlords who rent to the undocumented and require prospective [...]
DHS DEVELOPING SINGLE, SEARCHABLE IMMIGRATION DATABASE TO IDENTIFY FRAUD IN APPLICATIONS AND PETITIONS
Nextgov.com reports:
“The Homeland Security Department plans to establish a database of immigration data that will identify fraud in applications for benefits, and provide information to intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
DHS will create a mirror copy of multiple databases the Citizenship and Immigration Services uses to award federal benefits to immigrants and nonimmigrants and develop a [...]
Seven Myths that Cloud the Immigration Debate
In an interesting blog post, Darrell M. West, Vice President and Director of Government Studies at the Brookings Institute, writes:
“The United States is shockingly irrational in the way it handles immigration. Unlike other nations that strategically use immigration to pursue national goals, we lurch from concerns about border security to illegal immigrants to drugs and [...]
“Backdoor Amnesty” or Prudent Allocation of Enforcement Resources?
An undated USCIS memo surfaced (“leaked”) recently from the offices of U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R – Iowa), drafted by USCIS Chief Counsel and a few other policy managers and operations managers at USCIS, addressed to Alejandro Mayorkas, USCIS Director. The stated purpose of the memo was to offer “administrative relief options to promote family [...]
Blinded by Dehumanizing Hatred
Several media outlets are carrying an account of the discovery of 72 bullet riddled bodies found in a large room of a ranch in northeast Mexico, about 100 miles south of Brownsville, Texas. Law enforcement officials are indicating that these were persons from Central and South America, on their way to surreptitiously enter the United [...]
Lions and Tigers and Terrorist Babies, OH MY!!!
Mid-term elections, as will take place in the United States this coming November, often bring out the crazies and the wedge issues. The election scheduled for this November is already gloriously upholding this colorful and curious tradition; particularly with respect to immigration issues, often referred to as the “third rail” of American politics. One would [...]
Detained and Deported: Failed By a Broken Immigration System
Please join me tomorrow for this lunch and learn session hosted by JCUA, and its Immigrant Justice Strategy Team. JCUA – IJST is one of the groups I am working with to raise awareness about the push for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
Detained and Deported: Failed by a Broken Immigration System, Reflections and Testimonies on why we need Reform; [...]
State of the Union
I wonder when immigration will be addressed. Lots of references to commissions and agenda items. Jobs, taxes, schools, college, healthcare reform, even a shout out for child obesity. Recovery program. Housing. Government spending. Campaign Funding. Supreme Court. Confirmations. Iraq. Military withdrawal. Military families. Haiti. Civil rights. Hate crimes. Gays in the military. Equal pay.
Finally – [...]
Its been too long…
Sorry for the hiatus. There is so much going on. Its time for me to get back to chatting about what’s going on out there. Comprehensive Immigration Reform, will it come to fruition? Immigration has come up in the health care debate, the disaster in Haiti, whether it stimulates job creation. It was an issue [...]
Does USCIS even read its own information?
Many of you likely heard that 2 different immigration programs were scheduled to sunset on March 6, 2009. Someone in my office and I were busy debating what exactly does the term sunset mean. Is sunset the last day the program is valid or the first day the program expired? Well let’s look at the [...]
