Musings on Immigration

          Employment Eligibility Verification or E-Verify is an internet-based US government controlled system to help employers verify the employment eligibility of new hires.   The E-Verification program works in conjunction with the current I-9 forms that must be completed for every new hire.   YOUR OBLIGATIONS UNDER GEORGIA LAW             Congress is considering legislation that would mandate E-Verification participation nationwide and may expand the program to an employer’s current employees (E-Verification prohibits the use of the program on current employees).   We will know more about this movement after the Presidential election.   The Georgia Legislature, in a fit of anti-immigration vitriol, jumped on the E-Verify bandwagon in 2011.  Though many larger employers in Georgia have already been subject to the new law (those with MORE than 100 employees) smaller, private employers in ...

by Danielle Conley , Partner It is safe to say that although October has been quite a busy month in Immigration Court, it has been well worth it!   Just today, I won my sixth of six merit hearings on behalf of six different individuals and their families who now have the privilege of remaining together in the United States!      It all started on October 2, 2012, when the Atlanta Immigration Court correctly found that a mother and son who were both in removal proceedings were each in their own right entitled to green cards in the United States as a result of the impact that their loss would have had on the mother’s two teenage daughters.   Her eldest son became the man of the family after they were devastated by the deportation of their father in 2008, and the judge simply could not bear the thought of the emotional impact on the two girls if they then lost their mother and brother after everything they have already been through.   ...

by Rebecca Rojas Recently, there has been much talk about Mitt Romney’s statement that while he would honor the deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) program initiated by President Obama, he would not continue it.  This has created unrest among potential applicants, but I think it is still too early to give up on the DACA program. As the program progresses, and as we begin to see the benefits it brings, I believe that it will continue in place until a more permanent solution can be implemented. The benefits of the DACA program are particularly evident in a recent conversation I had with a small town business owner. This business owner had come to talk to me to see what he could do about “Pablo.”  The man looked almost apologetic as he explained to me that while he had favored limiting immigration, he wanted to help Pablo. Pablo, he explained to me, had been brought here as a small child and, upon high school graduation, had begun to help him in his business....

Tonight will be the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.  The debate will be held in Denver, Colorado, a state that has a high percentage of Latino voters. In adv ance of this debate, it is no surprise then that Governor Romney on  Monday   stated that he would honor the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that President Obama announced on June 15, 2012:   "T he people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid. I'm not going to take something that they've purchased," Romney said. "Before those visas have expired we will have the full immigration reform plan that I've proposed." I mention this news development because many in the immigration community have expressed a fear that Romney as president would revok e the policy and lead to a policy of deporting thousands, if not hundre...