Under the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, federal courts across Texas have become flooded with undocumented immigrant mothers and fathers that have been separated from their children and criminally charged for illegally crossing the US border. This new policy shift has become an increasingly popular tactic amongst border patrol officials as a way to stop undocumented immigrants and their families from entering the US. “If you’re smuggling a child, then we’re going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions says. “If you don’t want your child to be separated, then don’t bring him across the border illegally.”
Read moreI Could Be That Child
Hello from Transamerica Pyramid Center and the Sentinel Building
On a break from the many excellent panels and sessions at the annual conference for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), I managed to get a wonderful look at two iconic San Francisco buildings. On the left is the famous Transamerica Pyramid Center, designed specifically by William Pereira & Associates to "allow natural light and fresh air to filter down to the streets below." On the right is the Sentinel Building, which I was not familiar with prior to this trip. The building has had a number of owners and tenants since its completion in 1907, but is currently owned by Francis Ford Coppola, who bought the building in 1972 to be the headquarters for his production company, American Zoetrope, from where the cafe on the ground floor gets its name. Films including the Godfather II and III, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, One From the Heart, The Outsiders, and Dracula were written, edited, or sound mixed inside this pretty green building. Perhaps they'd like a law firm tenant?
USCIS: Update to Form I-797 Receipt Notices for Form I-751 and Form I-829
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of June 11, 2018, petitioners who file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, will receive a Form I-797 receipt notice which can be presented with their Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card, as evidence of continued status for eighteen months past the expiration date on their Permanent Resident Card.
Read moreHow to Replace or Renew Your Green Card
Whether it is a lost Green Card (you know the feeling when you have searched everywhere and slowly come to the dreaded realization that it’s gone) or an expired ten-year Green Card, or even if there is a mistake on your Green Card, you will have to get a new card. And, of course, this type of thing always seems to happen when you have to travel internationally or are starting a new job in a few days. What to do???
Read moreWashington Post: “Sessions: Victims of domestic abuse and gang violence generally won’t qualify for asylum”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions released a ruling this week that says victims of domestic abuse and gang violence generally will not qualify for asylum under federal law. Sessions’s ruling vacated a 2016 decision by the Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals that said an El Salvadorian abused woman was eligible for asylum. Although the appeals board is typically the highest government authority on immigration law, the attorney general can assign cases to himself and set precedents. Immigration advocates warn that this decision could threaten the safety of thousands of foreign nationals who have sought haven in the US.
Read moreForbes: “USCIS Uses Questionable 'Overstay' Report To Justify Policies”
On May 10, 2018, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum for public comment that changes how the agency will calculate unlawful presence for students and exchange visitors in F, J, and M nonimmigrant status (including F-2, J-2, or M-2 dependents) who fail to maintain their status in the US. This updated policy, which will be effective August 9, 2018, is meant to align with President Trump’s “Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.” Since USCIS’s announcement of the proposed policy change, many have expressed concern, calling it restrictive and unfair since it may result in international students who unknowingly violate their immigration status being barred from the US up to ten years. Importantly, respected demographer Robert Warren has disputed a key Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report, Fiscal Year 2016 Entry/Exit Overstay Report (released on May 22, 2017), that USCIS relies on to justify its proposed change of policy for students.
Read moreThe Next Generation
SeaGlass Carousel
The SeaGlass Carousel, located downtown in Battery Park, pays homage to the New York Aquarium, which was previously located at this location and at one point welcomed 2.5 million visitors annually before closing in 1941. The 2,575 square foot pavilion, modeled after a nautilus, lacks the traditional center pole and is instead turned by four turntables housed below the floor. Each massive fiberglass fish was custom designed and fabricated and the bright and fantastic color-changing LED light fixtures (along with an integrated audio system) is meant to evoke the bioluminescence found deep in the ocean. The results are mesmerizing. Seriously, we could have watched it all night.
Priority Dates Q&A
Once foreign nationals decide they want to stay in the United States permanently and start talking to an immigration attorney or researching the process themselves, there is a pretty good chance the term “priority date” will come up. What this term means and why it is so important to figuring out the timing involved in a Green Card case can be confusing. There are often many questions surrounding how one obtains a priority date and all the timing issues that follow. This post aims to explain how the process works, although many people may prefer not to know how the sausage is made (if you will). Tracking the backlog of cases can be painfully frustrating—especially if a foreign national’s visa category is one that is excessively backlogged. But for those who wish to know the reason behind the delays, here are some of the most frequently asked questions.
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