This is the best blog post I’ve read in a while. Read this carefully and see if its conclusions describe a rational immigration policy. Remember those infomercials years ago — “Stop the Insanity” — that’s about where we’re at in the employment-based category.
The acronym “EWI” means “Entered Without Inspection” and is immigration law terminology for those who entered illegally or “jumped the border.” CNN has an article about EWI children here. Regardless of which side of the immigration debate you sit on (there are more than two despite how the media portrays this), the issues associated with children are complex to say the least. I’m glad to hear Marta had the benefit of representation in her trip through removal proceedings. Can you imagine if you were a 12 year old appearing alone in Immigration Court? It’s a terrifying notion to me and from the article, it sounds like this happens every day in Immigration Courts across the country.
AILA has posted a summary of the “core principles” Congressman Gutierrez announced at a Capitol rally this week. Here’s the link.
MSNBC.com has more coverage of changes to ICE’s detention policy.
I forgot to post this Baltimore Sun article a couple weeks ago. It tells the tale of a child who won his asylum claim based on a theory of gang violence as persecution for membership in a social group. The article correctly points out that under US immigration law, asylum is possible where someone has experienced persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution based on 5 particular grounds: (1) race; (2) religion; (3) nationality; (4) political opinion; or (5) membership in a social group. That’s it. Traditionally, being the target of gang violence didn’t fit squarely in any of these categories, and therefore such claims would fail. It seems in this case, Judge Williams of the Baltimore Immigration Court was persuaded otherwise.
The other half of the asylum test is that the persecution must be at the hands of the government or forces that the government is unable or unwilling to control. I’m guessing rampant gang activity is the latter. I’ve had the good fortune of being before Judge Williams and I hope other courts will be persuaded by the profound wisdom he demonstrated in this case.
An article at the BBC describes reform of detention rules that will see those not considered dangerous released from immigration detention. I’ve written before how important it is to keep in mind that immigration violations are purely administrative in nature. We don’t need to jail people for administrative issues. Of course, some of those individuals in detention are there because of underlying criminal issues. That’s fine — we put criminals in jail all the time. That system already works. What doesn’t work is an immigration enforcement system that leaves thousands of non-criminals stranded in prison, sometimes for years. We just don’t need that. Anyway — thanks Secretary Napolitano — this change in policy will make a big difference in many people’s lives.
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