As part of a general policy to attract the “best and brightest “to the United States to ply their trades, foreign nationals can apply for an O visa to secure entry to work in certain fields. These O visas possess several attractive features. They can be acquired in a fairly short time frame. Holders of these visas can travel in and out of the country for as long as the duration of the visa which often…
Read MorePosted onThe announcement by Iowa officials in 22 different counties that they will refuse to incarcerate individuals held under the authority of immigration detainers makes it more difficult for the federal government to detain immigrants lacking documentation while they await their deportation hearings. For some time Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have been asking local jails to hold individuals suspected of not having proper immigration documentation. But facing their own problems with jail overcrowding and concerns…
Read MorePosted onOver the last few years Jose Antonio Vargas, a Filipino native who has lived in the United States for most of his life, has shed great light on the circumstances facing individuals who were brought to this country while children by their parents. His award-winning journalism and candid statements about his status as an undocumented immigrant have provided a unique view of the plight of such folks and the dilemma they face in the country many…
Read MorePosted onAccording to a report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a project at Syracuse University that gathers and analyzes federal data, children who have legal representation at immigration hearings fare much better than those who proceed without representation. Almost one-half of all minors represented by lawyers in immigration court in the past decade eventually won permission to remain in the United States. But over 90 percent of those without counsel were sent back to their country…
Read MorePosted onA 71 year-old man who sells ice cream from a truck in his home of Dearborn, Michigan now faces potential deportation from the United States. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Mahmoud Bazzi at his home in Dearborn in the morning July 15, the Detroit Free Press reported. ICE alleges that the Lebanese national may have used a false passport to enter the country decades ago. Mr. Bazzi may also be accused of killing two Irish soldiers…
Read MorePosted onAs lawmakers in Washington have shifted focus away from addressing comprehensive immigration reform towards debate over the humanitarian crisis at the southern border, the White House has signaled that it will not prevent the administration from moving forward on new executive actions to address some immigration issues. According to Jennifer Palmieri, the White House communications director, “The American people see immigration as an urgent issue and want the administration to act to address the problem of…
Read MorePosted onFor the last two weeks or so, images of refugees - mostly children from the countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala - lining up at the southern border to be taken in to custody by federal border agents, has prompted intensification of an already, heated debate over immigration reform. While the solutions proposed by the Obama administration and by a group of bipartisan lawmakers from Texas each address the process by which each refugee’s immigration…
Read MorePosted onA Mexican teen who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the Mexican side of the border had some constitutional protections although he was not an American citizen and he was killed on Mexican territory, albeit just across the border. Accordingly, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hernandez v. Mesa, No. 11-50792 (5th Cir. 2014) held that the child’s family could sue for wrongful death on the grounds that the decedent’s Fifth Amendment due…
Read MorePosted onAs thousands of children - many unaccompanied by adults - cross America’s southern border to flee danger in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, a recent appellate case originating out of a family court in Nassau County, New York illustrates the plight facing some of the youngsters in the region. The appeal involves whether the mother of children who fled violence in El Salvador can be appointed guardian under a statute which could eventually…
Read MorePosted onA Lebanese man came to the United States lawfully in 1999 under a H-1(b) work visa to work for his sponsoring employer, Carolyn Pickett. Subsequently the man, Elias Eid, married Ms. Pickett and lived together. But when, after Ms. Pickett and Mr. Eid filed the applications for him to be granted permanent residence in the United States, they withdrew the applications after immigration officers questioned the legitimacy of the marriage. Both Eid and Pickett then gave…
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