Musings on Immigration

Maybe. This would depend on how serious these health problems are, what stage of immigration proceedings you are in right now, and what other negative factors affect your case (for example, an existing criminal record, multiple immigration violations, etc.). No pending proceedings in Immigration Court. If you are not in any immigration proceedings at the moment (meaning, you are not scheduled to attend court hearings or appear in front of an Immigration Judge), you could file an application called Deferred Action (not to be confused with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). This application, if approved, will not give you a green card, but would give you a work permit that you can renew indefinitely. There is no form or formal application process for Deferred Action. This type of relief is based on discretion given by the Department of Homeland Security and a good immigration attorney can help you identify what typ...

Why is there no decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals on the Obama administration's appeal of the District Court order temporarily stopping DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Accountability)?  This is the question on the minds of millions of undocumented parents of US Citizens.  President Obama announced DAPA on November 20, 2015, with much fanfare and gave a sense to the immigrant communities around the US that he would finally attempt to fulfill his empty campaign promises on Immigration Reform. I have blogged previously about how Obama could solve the problem raised by the District Court Judge by simply creating and implementing regulations, something he could have EASILY done in February when the District Court stopped the DAPA memo from moving forward, but which until today, six months later, he has not done (and it would have been in effect now)!  Don't expect Obama to help the immigrant community by moving forward in the regulatory path any time soon,...

Ever since President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") program the question has been asked in Georgia by DACA beneficiaries, can I now pay "in-state" tuition at Georgia Colleges and Universities?  The question is simple, but the answer is complicated because of the differences between "lawful status" and "lawful presence," terms that are poorly understood outside of the immigration lawyer community. Now that clarifications have been issued by the Department of Homeland Security on "lawful presence" and "lawful status" within the DACA context, it is clear that the Georgia Board of Regents must allow DACA beneficiaries to pay in-state tuition, by the words of their own policy Manual. BACKGROUND Initially when this issue percolated through the Georgia state legislature in 2010, and in order to stop actual laws from being enacted on this issue, the Georgia Board of Regents, which is tasked...

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....