June 2022 Client of the Month- YMM

June 2022 Client of the Month- YMM Our client of the month for June 2022 is YMM, who has been a client of Benach Collopy since 2013 and sought and was granted citizenship this winter.  In addition to being one of the loveliest people one could ever hope to meet, YMM is a Spanish national who worked with BC Partner Dree Collopy to seek lawful permanent resident status along with her husband.  She and her husband were granted green cards in 2015 based on an approved extraordinary ability (EB-1) petition. 

Client of the Month- May 2022- Lady!

Client of the Month- May 2022- Lady! Lady and her two boys! For our client of the month for May we have a perfect Client for Mother’s Day! Here we celebrate a woman who did what mothers do best- protect her children and create a better life for them. We are happy to share that Lady and her sons, Diego and Juan, were granted asylum! Ava Benach represented them before the immigration court in New York.

Client of the Month- March 2022- Azeb!

Client of the Month- March 2022- Azeb! Azeb and Dree Collopy We are happy to once again begin our client of the month series with a Dree Collopy victory! This month, we celebrate our client Azeb, who was granted asylum from Ethiopia after a long battle to obtain the safety in this country that she deserves. Azeb fled to the US after she had been wrongfully imprisoned in Ethiopia for standing up to government harm to journalists and political opponents.

Job Opening- Associate Attorney!

Benach Collopy LLP is a nationally renowned, full-service immigration and nationality law firm in Washington, DC.  The firm is one of the nation’s leading voices for immigrants’ rights and its attorneys are among the most respected immigration lawyers in the nation.  Benach Collopy represents a wide range of clients, providing innovative, zealous representation to immigrants and their families while maintaining the highest standards of ethics and client service.

A First Look at the Biden/Harris Immigration Bill

A First Look at the Biden/Harris Immigration Bill Hours before he takes the oath of office, President-Elect Joe Biden released details of the immigration bill his administration will send to Congress.  The fact sheet distributed by his office reveals a bold bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented people in the US, with priority for Dreamers, TPS holders and immigrant farmworkers.  The bill seeks to make more visas available and expand migration opportunities for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics graduates. 

Is USCIS really not processing green card applications?

Is USCIS really not processing green card applications? Outstanding reporting by Tanvi Misra in Roll Call last week uncovered memos that state that U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service has “stopped” processing applications for residence.  While we have not seen the memos at issue, we are going to try to piece together what it means.  In our opinion, it is not as nefarious as it seems, though it sure is bad. Let’s start with this basic premise: this administration is resolutely and completely anti-immigrant. 

Una carta abierta a mi comunidad Latinx. De Diana Mateo

Una carta abierta a mi comunidad Latinx.  De Diana Mateo ¡Hola, amigos! Soy una de las paralegales de BC, Diana. Como una Latina profesional de inmigración, quería compartir algunas ideas con nuestros amigos y clientes de BC sobre algunos problemas preocupantes que he visto en nuestra comunidad latina, y sobre formas en que podemos ser mejores aliados para nuestros hermanos Negros. Las muertes de George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery y Breonna Taylor son actos de asesinato horribles, y es parte de nuestra responsabilidad como inmigrantes de defender a nuestros hermanos Negros contra el genocidio de ellos en los Estados Unidos de la misma manera que nos enfrentamos al genocidio en la frontera.

An Open Letter to my Non-Black Latinx Community

An Open Letter to my Non-Black Latinx Community This is a special blog post by our Paralegal Diana Mateo, who has been inspired to write by the Black Lives Matter movement  to speak out about anti-blackness in the Latino community.  A version in Spanish is available here. Hi friends, this is Benach Collopy paralegal Diana. As a Latina immigration professional, I want to share some thoughts with our BC friends and clients on some troubling issues I’ve seen in our non-Black Latinx community and on ways we can be better allies to our Black siblings.