The Immigration Mastermind

Every year, the Social Security Administration collects billions of dollars in taxes from unknown persons. It doesn’t know who paid. A majority of those funds were filed by employers on behalf of the most unlikely funders of Social Security. Undocumented immigrants.  Without these contributions, the SSA would NOT be able to meet current retirement claims.  Recommended Links For More...

Many immigrants, thinking about naturalization in the United States, want to know if they will have to give up citizenship in their country of birth.   The short answer is no. The long answer is maybe. The United States does not formally recognize dual citizenship. At the swearing-in ceremony, immigrants are required to take an Oath of Allegiance. It sounds like a one person, one country...

Does an influx of immigrants increase crime?  Contrary to many news reporters and political pundits, the answer in professional study after professional study is no. Much of the discussion about the immigrants and crime connection centers on the southwest borders of the U.S.. Yet, research shows not only that southwestern border states are safer than most non-border states, but also that U.S....

Many people assert immigrants steal jobs from Americans and gobble up scarce government resources. In the process, they believe immigrants are destroying the U.S. economy. This belief is flat out wrong.  Consider the education of incoming immigrants. Almost ½ of our country’s foreign-born population who arrived in the past decade are college educated.   Recommended Links For More In...

What immigration changes will take place under a Biden presidency? A few days ago, Joe Biden made a campaign stop in Florida. While there, he addressed various immigration topics. He talked about Temporary Protected Status. He was a member of the U.S. Senate when TPS was born. He stressed his commitment to the Deferred Action For Immigration Youth program, another policy he comprehends f...

Last week, we talked about possible questions at a fiancé visa interview. Let’s pick up where we left off.  Today, we'll dive into a couple’s future plans. The officer could ask questions like: What are your fiancé’s career plans? Do you and your fiancé plan to have children?  Do you and your fiancé plan to travel after marriage? Recommended Links For More Information: What You Need To K...

At immigration court, you will need to discuss and dispute the charges made by the government against you. Or you will be ordered to return to your country of origin. Talking to an attorney before you answer such questions is far more often crucial to success than not. The big day, when you present your case, is known as a Merits Hearing. This is the immigration trial. This is where you will testi...

There are different types of hearings at immigration court.  The first is called a Master Calendar Hearing. At the outset, the judge will want to know if you have been served with a document known as the Notice To Appear.  Unless you have – and unless it has been prepared properly – the case against you cannot go forward. If it has been served properly, you must be ready to address the a...

Sometimes couples fail to pass the K-1 fiancé visa interview process because they don’t know the answers To really basic inquiries. For example: What type of work does your future spouse do? How much does he or she earn?  What hobbies does he or she have? What things do you and your fiancé have in common? These are basic questions. They should never be missed. Recommended Links For More...

At a fiancé visa Interview, a government officer might want to dig into a couple's engagement history and wedding plans. They might be asked questions like: Who proposed to whom? Where did this take place? Was anyone else present? When did you tell your parents about the engagement? Did they approve? Why or why not? What guests do you plan to invite to the big day?  Do you have honeymoon...

Love happens. In an instant. In a single moment. Unexpectedly and unpredictably, Sometimes the moment occurs while you’re abroad. And that's the first key to a successful fiancé visa interview. Recommended Links For More Information: What You Need To Know For K-1 Fiancé Visa Interview Success Fiancé Visas Lawyer

71 million. 71 million refugees without a place to call home. The current international refugee system was set in place by the United Nations in 1951. We now live in a new, more difficult era of refugee resettlement. Is the world up to the challenge? Recommended Links For More Information: Global Citizens Making A Difference For Refugees Across The World Deng Thiak Adut: From Child Soldier To...

Immigration reform – the rational variety – requires a team effort. From those working inside the system and those working outside the system. Without strong social protest, the insiders who support change have no leverage.   But more hands on deck are needed.   Recommended Links For More Information: Global Citizens Making A Difference For Refugees Across The World Reflections...

If you listen to the pessimism of others, you may never achieve your dreams. You have to keep on trucking, even when no one believes in you. Even though the doubts of your peers may amplify your personal doubts, your dreams are attainable. As my mother told me at least 100 times growing up, “If there is a will, there is a way.” Recommended Links For More Information: Persistence Is Often The Key T...

Given the huge backlog at the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Department of Justice has implemented a policy known as Affirmance Without Opinion. The very name implies the problem.  An AWO that authorizes a single BIA member to affirm the decision of a lower immigration court judge by a summary written order without issuing a separate written opinion. The procedure opens the door to foul pl...

Challenges to immigration court decisions are reviewed by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The Board has a maximum of 21 judges. In the latest year for which statistics exist, the BIA received 39,028 appeals. That means, when the BIA is fully staffed, each Board member must handle 1,858 cases per year. Put another way, this equals 155 decisions per Board member per month. Can justice,...

The excessive backlog of cases at immigration court leads to many problems. Judicial mistakes in decision-making is one such issue. Although the right to correct errors on appeal exists, this right will be narrowed under a recent immigration proposal. Recommended Links For More Information: Lost Your Case? Fight Back! Dark Days Of Deportation Defense: The BIA Failure To Lead

Given the recent decision of Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is the Temporary Protected Status program over? Well, no.  But TPS beneficiaries need to start looking into other ways to legalize their immigration status. Because the termination of TPS for certain countries is closer than ever. For many TPS recipients, there are possible roads to permanent residence. However, planning ahe...

A few months ago, the Department of Justice announced an initiative to strip citizenship from naturalized individuals who committed immigration fraud. Fear was the instant reaction of immigrant communities. Such jitters are exaggerated.   Except for terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters. Recommended Links For More Information: The Denaturalization Process Citizen...

I’m often asked why don’t victims of human trafficking just leave their victimizers. In short, as the equivalent of modern day slaves, their situation is far more complicated than most outsiders realize. Their physical, psychological, and economic isolation and deprivation in a country and culture foreign to them makes escape a risky ordeal. Here’s 10 reasons why. Recommended Links For More Inform...

Human trafficking is is a form of modern-day slavery, It’s growing across the globe, and across the United States. And it’s growing locally. But like an undiscovered medical virus, human trafficking is often right in front of us and yet we fail to sense its presence.   Recommended Links For More Information: New Centers Of Human Trafficking Riverside Launches Fight Against Human Traffick...

Bad immigration actors need to be called out. Filings with fraudulent information should never be tolerated. Sometimes, misleading information is the basis of petitions that are fraudulent. Preparers of documents must practice the art of thoughtful caution. Three simple rules can prevent problems. No one should ever file an application or petition: Unless both the immigrant and immigrant's petitio...

Immigrants who knowingly engage in fraud have no place in the pro-reform movement. And immigrant advocates have a duty to openly confront such actions. Such acts set desperately-needed positive reform – for honest and deserving immigrant families – back 5, 10, 15 years or longer. When it comes to immigration, the end does not justify the means.  Plain and simple, misrepresenting the truth to...

Intolerant discourse is not discourse. After all, as my former professor Robert Nozick once wrote, there is no intellectual karate chop to end all intellectual karate chops. And that realization could help America shape an immigration solution that would be acceptable to the political right, left, and center. But can our political leadership ever reach such a point on immigration issues? Recommend...

Would you share your last cookie with an immigrant? Asked what is friend, Cookie Monster of Sesame Street fame once said, “A friend is someone to share last cookie with.” My dad was a dishwasher, earning minimum wage. Yet, he was always willing to share what little he had - even the cookies he bought for our family with his hard-earned dollars. For no reason other than it’s good to share. Ima...