The law as passed by Congress is very clear as to who may seek asylum in the United States. Immigration & Nationality Act Section 208 states:
Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum in accordance with this section or, where applicable section 235(b).
Last month, after I posted about the Attorney General (AG)’s decision in Matter of A-B-, I went home, stood on the roof of my building, and just yelled for a while. It felt good to vocalize some of the horror that this administration makes me feel. Of course, yelling isn’t a solution. If it was, we’d long since be out of this mess. Instead, we have seen the administration make even bolder attempts to limit legal immigration over the last month (leading to, you guessed it, more yelling).
It’s another rough day to be an immigration attorney in America. Yesterday, a decision was issued that seriously undermines the ability of immigrants to seek asylum in this country. The administration is continuing its war against immigrants, building its invisible wall to complement the one they want to put on the border and finding new ways to keep immigrants from coming here or from obtaining protections.
A crazy thing about our immigration system it is that the Immigration Courts are entirely under the control of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
On May 4, 1970, U.S. National Guardsmen shot and killed four people protesting the Vietnam War. The massacre, known as the Kent State shootings, topped a tumultuous decade that spurred a lot of violence against those making then-controversial claims to civil rights. In the aftermath of the shooting, many Americans blamed the protesting students and cited violations of law allegedly committed by the protestors. What was not in dispute was that four young people lost their lives that day at the hand of troops acting under the flag of the United States.
What a year! 2017 will go down as one of the weirdest years we can remember. And for all the terrible news, we will remember this year as one of tremendous change and growth. On December 22, 2017, we will officially occupy our new office space at 4530 Wisconsin Avenue. While it is hard to leave downtown Washington DC, driving past the White House has lost nearly all of its charm this year.
Today, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, I am thinking about the M.S. St. Louis. In 1939, while war waged in Europe, the M.S. St. Louis, a transatlantic ship carrying Jewish refugees fleeing the Third Reich, reached U.S. waters by way of Hamburg and Havana. Seeking protection from persecution and a safe place to start over with their families, these refugees hoped to be admitted to the United States of America.
La semana pasada compartimos lo que puede pasar de primeras durante la presidencia de Trump. No era nuestra meta ser alarmistas, pero tenemos indicios que Trump no se está haciendo para atrás con sus horribles ideas inmigratorias. Su elevación del restriccionista Kris Kobach, el arquitecto de tantas terribles iniciativas y leyes antiinmigrante, demuestra que Trump pretende mantener sus promesas de campaña sobre inmigración. Basado a nuestra asesoría de lo que puede pasar, aquí les compartimos consejos prácticos que usted puede seguir preparándose para la administración de Trump la cual comienza el 20 de enero del 2017.
“The judgement is affirmed by an equally divided court.” With one sentence, the Supreme Court refused to engage in the question of the President’s authority to extend deferred action to the parents of U.S. citizens (DAPA) and additional young people who entered the U.S. as children (expanded DACA). By affirming the judgement, the Court let the injunction against DAPA and expanded DACA stand, dashing the hopes of millions that there would be the ability to work legally in the U.S.
