Blog

Filling The Need For Nurses From Overseas

Just as a shortage of IT professionals in the United States precipitates the need for employers to seek skilled workers from other countries to fill job positions in the science and technology sector via the H1-B visa process, hospitals and doctors must do the same for nurses. Despite recent increases in the number of students seeking nursing degrees in American colleges and universities, the demand outstrips the current supply of trained nurses here. Accordingly, the USCIS…

Read MorePosted on

Lack Of Retroactivity Prevents Defendant From Getting Conviction Vacated

The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, once again addressed the issue of whether warnings given by an attorney to his client, a criminal defendant who could be potentially subject to deportation, were sufficient.  In this instance, an Ecuadorian citizen was arrested for four counts of drug offenses. His attorney negotiated a plea with the prosecutor under which he would plead to one of those counts and receive a three-year sentence. He would become eligible…

Read MorePosted on

Mexican National Denied Asylum By Successive Tribunals

A Mexican citizen who came to the United States on a short seventy-two hour visa in 2000 has been repeatedly denied asylum in this country for both procedural defects in his application and because his case does not establish the substantive grounds for asylum. He failed to take any action to seek asylum in the United States until 2009 when the government commenced removal proceedings against him.  At that juncture, he admitted that he was subject…

Read MorePosted on

Supreme Court Refuses To Review Harboring Ban Struck Down By Lower Court

The United States Supreme Court exercised its discretion to refuse certain appeals when it decided not to review a lower court’s decision striking down parts of Arizona’s controversial immigration law. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last year invalidated the portion of the law, S.B. 1070, which authorized the police to arrest those who harbor undocumented aliens residing in the state.  That appellate court had determined that federal law already contains a prohibition against harboring such…

Read MorePosted on

Haitian Refugee Act Provides Haitians With Chance To Stay In United States

Haiti has for many decades been among the poorest on the planet. For many years the country suffered from coups which caused its elected political leadership to be forced out of the country. Back in 1998 Congress passed the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) to establishes the procedures that eligible Haitians will use to file for adjustment to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status pursuant to section 902 of that statute.  The purpose of the statute…

Read MorePosted on

Iranian Citizen Denied Asylum Repeatedly Despite Removal Of Group From Terrorist

An Iranian national has repeatedly sought asylum here in the United States where she has resided since 1996. The woman, Laila Rajabi, initially petitioned for asylum after coming here and appealed the denial of her petition to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). They refused to overturn the denial. But they did reconsider the case years later when it was determined that a taped interview she gave was not included in the original case. However, a…

Read MorePosted on

Calling Broadcasters To Our Country

U.S. immigration law supports certain public policy objectives by designating that some foreign nationals can qualify for residency or citizenship because of the role they played in helping the United States. A notable example includes translators who aided American troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan during those wars. A lesser known category for potential immigration to this country is the green card for broadcasters. Individuals (and their spouses and children) who are coming to work in the…

Read MorePosted on

Day Of Action Demonstrations Held In Cities Across The Country

On Saturday, April 5, 2014 immigration groups took part in “Day of Action rallies in close to 50 cities across the country. The primary focus of the demonstrations was to demand the federal government cease the deportations of family members and friends from the United States. In some cities, activists carried signs depicting President Obama as “the deporter-in-chief.  Since becoming President, about 2 million people have been removed from the country although some question whether those…

Read MorePosted on

H1-b Visa Deadline Spurs Cottage Prognostication Industry

The recent arrival of the April 1 filing date for individuals seeking to work in the United States pursuant to H1-B visas begins a period of time of nervous waiting. Prospective workers and their potential employers hold their collective breath as they wait to see if the USCIS will announce the need for a lottery and then, if so, who will qualify for the 65,000 allotted spots that are generally available. As this process unfolds, foreign…

Read MorePosted on

Qualifying For Sij Status In The United State

Congress passed The Immigration Act of 1990, 8 USC 1101 to provide a procedure by which certain young or minor aliens could be classified a “special immigrant affording that alien the opportunity to maintain residence in the United States.  The purpose was to protect abused, neglected, and abandoned unaccompanied minors through a process that allows them to become permanent legal residents. Under what procedure then can such minors acquire SIJ status? Unlike other immigration matters, a…

Read MorePosted on