Denaturalization

One cannot read a newspaper these days without seeing a front page article about a new immigration policy the Trump administration is implementing, or a drastic change in existing immigration policies. Most recently, the media reported on the inhumane separation of minor children from their parents, which caused quite a stir. Fortunately, that practice has […]

Asylum and Current Immigration News

The media has been reporting for the past couple of weeks about the caravan of Central Americans that have traveled for weeks to arrive in the U.S. in order to seek asylum from their native countries. Many of them ended up in Tijuana, awaiting their turn to approach the port of entry at San Ysidro […]

California’s Sanctuary State Laws

President Trump has been a strong proponent for strict enforcement of immigration laws since his presidential campaign began. He has called for building a southern border wall between Mexico and the U.S., ending “chain migration,” and ending the “catch and release” concept that allowed immigration officials to release undocumented individuals by their discretion. He has […]

Prolonged Immigration Detention

In October 2015 the American Civil Liberties Union won a seminal case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, relating to the prolonged detention of foreign nationals in immigration detention centers. Essentially, the court stated that even if a foreign national is subject to mandatory detention under U.S. federal statute, the foreign national is entitled […]

Fraud and Misrepresentation

The U.S. immigration laws prohibit any fraud or willful, material misrepresentation by a foreign national in order to obtain immigration benefits. Any foreign national that is guilty of this is inadmissible from the U.S. The scope of what constitutes fraud and what constitutes a willful misrepresentation is not specifically defined. Moreover, “immigration benefits” are not […]

New CA Marijuana Laws and Non-Citizens

There have been many changes to California state laws on marijuana use in the last several years. First, marijuana use for medicinal purposes became legalized. More recently, Proposition 64 legalized the possession and use of marijuana for persons age 21 and over. Other states such as Colorado and Massachusetts, have their own version of these […]

H-2A Visas

The U.S. offers a H-2A visa for temporary agricultural workers from different parts of the world, to fill seasonal, agricultural jobs. A U.S. employer must petition the worker and prove that it is offering a job that is of temporary nature; demonstrate that there are not enough U.S. works that are able, willing, qualified, and […]

Visas for Victims of Crimes

Being the victim of a crime is terrifying, and for someone who does not have lawful immigration status, it can be even more frightening. A resident or citizen would have no question about reporting a crime, whereas an undocumented person would wonder if they report the crime, if they can be reported to the immigration […]

Bringing a Fiancé to the U.S.

The decision to get married is one that is generally celebrated and is the stepping stone to the actual act of getting married. The engagement is exciting for all parties, including family who want to participate in the wedding festivities. However, when one of the parties that are getting married is not from the U.S., […]

Getting Married While on a Visitor Visa

On September 1, 2017, the Department of State updated the legal standard in determining what behavior constitutes a “misrepresentation” for purposes of determining inadmissibility. The U.S. immigration laws state that “any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or […]

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