The Chrisitan Science Montior has a story on other states taking Arizona’s lead. Here’s the link. From the Constitution itself and the body of caselaw developed in the area it is clear that immigration is the exclusive province of federal law, not state. This issue demands a national voice, not the state-by-state policies apparently to come. Congress — please make immigration reform a priority now!
From CNN here.
From the Christian Science Monitor here.
More to come…
The Washington Times has a piece here describing the steps pro-immigrant groups have taken to better position themselves as immigration reforms heats up again.
The Baltimore Sun has a short piece here. As usual, there are a lot of colorful comments following the article.
AILA has posted a summary of the “core principles” Congressman Gutierrez announced at a Capitol rally this week. Here’s the link.
The CATO Institute released the results of a study analyzing the various possible immigration reform scenarios and their resulting impact on the economy. No surprises here — a legalization program of some sort could add as much as $180 billion to the economy whereas an enforcement-only solution would end up costing the economy $80 billion. As much of a no-brainer as this may make the immigration debate seem, I’m guessing this study will not persuade the anti-immigration side. Simply putting things in economic terms suggests you can buy your way around the law. Personally, I don’t see it that way, of course, but you can be sure someone will be making that argument.
You can read the report here.
The American Immigration Law Foundation’s Immigration Policy Center has released this fact sheet highlighting the issues surrounding Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It’s a good short read that identifies the key issues in the debate that’s sure to be coming soon.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) again posts a press release reading the signs about the likelihood of immigration reform this year. The press release specifically refers to the DREAM Act, which would come as a welcome relief to many in the immigrant community. The release is here.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), an essentially pro-immigration organization of lawyers that I belong to, has published a press release reviewing the signals coming from Congress and the White House indicating there’s a strong likelihood that some form of comprehensive immigration reform will be coming this year. This will come as welcome relief to many in the immigrant community who themselves or their family members have become stuck under the current immigration paradigm.
The press release is here.
Many immigrants find themselves in a situation where, due to a number of reasons, they are ineligible to “adjust status” and obtain green cards while remaining in the U.S., however, by leaving the U.S. and hoping to return legally, they may face the dreaded 3 or 10 year bar on re-entry. Some may even face a permanent bar on re-entry, not as the result of any criminal activity but simply administrative violations relating to immigration status. Basically, this is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation. I can’t count the number of clients whose cases I’ve reviewed and had the somber task of explaining how current immigration law will treat their situation. There are by some counts over 12 million people in the U.S. right now with no clear path toward legalizing their status. Comprehensive immigration reform is the hope of those 12 million people to finally get a normal life. Let’s hope AILA’s analysis of these political signs is accurate.
I'm a solo immigration attorney based in the Washington, DC area. Thanks to the purely federal nature of immigration law, I work with clients all over the United States and around the world. I work with my clients on a variety of immigration-related matters, including adjustment of status & green cards, removal & deportation defense, Section 245(i) issues, alien relative petitions, EAD & work permit issues, K-1 Fiancé(e) and K-3 Spouse visas, asylum applications, non-immigrant visas and consular processing issues.
The purpose of this blog is to air recent developments in immigration policy and procedure outside of the usual industry places, as well as share my views and experiences helping clients navigate the often perilous journey through the American immigration system. If you would like to contact me regarding any of these blog postings or for any other matter, here is my contact info:
Law Office of Thomas K. Brown, LLC
One Research Court Suite 450 (map)
Rockville, MD 20850
1-888-783-9180