F2A Category Will Become "Current"

According to the latest visa bulletin (August 2013), preference category F2A is now current! F2A is the visa immigrant classification category assigned to spouses and children under 21 of lawful permanent residents. For some time now, visa availabili… Read More
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New Senate Bill Provides Relief for Aged Out Children

One of the many wonderful provisions contained within S744, the bill recently passed by the US Senate, is a measure that provides relief to children who “age out.” As things currently are, it is not uncommon for derivative beneficiary chi… Read More
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Senate Approves New Immigration Bill

Last week saw two major new developments in immigration law. One was the passage of Bill S744 by the Senate, which offers an eventual pathway to citizenship for the millions of people out of status. The second equally, if not arguably more important,… Read More
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Supreme Court Decision with major immigration ramifications

At the end of April, the Supreme Court issued a significant decision with far reaching implications for aliens charged with criminal offenses, particularly drug ones. The case is Moncrieffe v. Holder. Mr. Moncrieffe was pulled over by the police, who… Read More
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Supreme Court rules on retroactivity of Padilla

Rosevela Chaidez was a permanent resident of the United States. She was arrested for mail fraud in connection with an insurance scam, and was advised by her lawyer to plead guilty. Her lawyer advised her to plead guilty, and she only received four ye… Read More
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The Economics of Immigration Reform

Can our country afford Immigration Reform? That is the question raised by Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. He argues making 11 million illegal immigrants eligible for legal status would “generate costs in Medicare and Social Security a… Read More
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Understanding the 3 and 10 year unlawful presence bars

Confusion is rife when it comes to the topic of unlawful presence in the United States, as is on how long an offending alien has to wait before re-entering the United States. At the most basic level, an alien is unlawfully present when they have ente… Read More
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End of 287(g) and the Rise of Secure Communities

On December 21st 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced the end of the 287(g) program. What does this mean for you? First, a review of what the 287(g) program was, and second, what will ICE replace it with? The 287(g) program allo… Read More
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STATESIDE WAIVER TO BECOME A REALITY

DHS Secretary Janet Naplitano announced today the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register concerning the provisional or stateside waiver process that we had written about earlier. Under this new process–which will become effective March… Read More
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Is It Better To ACHIEVE or to DREAM?

Is it better to Achieve, or to Dream? That is a question that was raised late last year by Senators Hutchison, Kyl, and McCain. They introduced the Achieve Act, which acts as a counter-offer to the Democrats’ Dream Act. Both Acts seek to offer… Read More
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