Musings on Immigration

Many people are now concerned about what rights the passenger in a vehicle has when the driver is pulled over for a traffic offense or as part of a roadblock or police license check.   The Supreme Court has said that passengers have constitutional rights and can challenge any stop or search if it is not constitutionally valid.  So, what are those rights? Before we get to YOUR rights, lets note the rights of the police officers:  They can order a passenger to get out of a car, back into the car, and to do a check for weapons through a simple pat down.  They can ask for the identification documents of a passenger, and can ask for the passenger's name.  And, they can expect that any commands relating to their safety be followed to the letter.  What Rights Do Passengers Have? As a general matter passengers have the same rights as the driver.  These rights are: The right to free from unreasonable  searches; The right to remain silent...

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS A guide for American citizens or permanent residents at airports or ports of entry If you are traveling into the United States from overseas, you will be questioned by Customs and Border Protections (CBP). You may also encounter other law enforcement officers. Depending on where you were born or your nationality, you may face more questioning than other travelers. Whether you are selected for secondary search may be based on your religion, race, national origin, gender identity, ethnicity, or political beliefs. Here are eight things you SHOULD and SHOULD NOT do if you're a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (green card holder) and you're held for questioning at the border: You will be asked questions about your travels or your immigration status. You should answers those honestly but briefly. Make any required declarations about money or items you are carrying. However, be careful with what you disclose to CBP and do not offer more detail tha...

The second of two Executive Orders on Immigration, " Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States ” appears to be intended to fulfill Trump's Radical Anti-Immigration pledge to "fully" enforce U.S. Immigration law.  Just curious as to when he will "fully" enforce U.S. Tax Law, or U.S. criminal law, both of which would have far greater benefits to the American economy and society than targeting immigrants.  Remember, Immigrants are the canary in the coal mine.  Let's take a look at what Trump has ordered the executive branch to do.   1.  Trump is eliminating former President Obama's "Enforcement Priorities" memo, which had limited the deportation efforts of ICE to individuals convicted of felonies, serious misdemeanors (like DUI), and to recent arrivals (those ordered deported after January 1, 2014).  Trump now expands the "   Enforcement Priorities" to include letter of the law enforcement.  But Trump's I...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 25, 2017, outlining a series of actions he directs the DHS, DOJ and related agencies to take in regards to internal enforcement of U.S. immigration law and to border security.  Many of these actions are already part of federal law, but many others will require congressional approval and appropriation of funds to carry out.   Much of what President Trump did today in this specific Executive Order (not the one on visa processing and refugees), will have an immediate impact on people's lives, but will not do anything to solve the problem of a broken immigration system. Here is what this Order does: 1.  Calls for planning, designing and constructing a wall on our international border with Mexico. This will require extensive funding from Congress (e.g. the American Taxpayer) for the immediate cost of about $25 Billion Dollars (give or take a few billion).   He also called for maintaining the wall (more billi...

A lot has been said about Candidate Trump's statements regarding immigrants ," Mexicans ," and " the wall ."  Many people, especially recent immigrants and those that know them, have had a visceral reaction to these statements and consider Trump "anti-immigrant" and unfit to lead an immigrant nation.  But I have to tell you, these nativist statements are not the reason why a Trump Presidency would destroy immigration to America.  There is another reason; the overarching cause of Trump's march toward a walled America, isolated from the rest of the work, self focused, and limiting in integration and growth--Senator Jeff Sessions. That's right.  Senator Jeff Sessions, the first Senator to hop  on board the Trump express . You have to ask yourself, why would a sitting U.S. Senator, with a lot to lose, get so cozy, so early with a candidate in the primaries.  The answer is simple. Trump talked the talk that Senator Sessions understands. The dog...

Special Immigrant Juveniles Will Now Face Years and Years of Wait Time Before Getting a Green Card Due to the high demand for Special Immigrant Juvenile Visas, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have already reached their yearly limit for available visas in the EB-4 category, the category in which the Special Immigrant Juvenile Visas fall. The fiscal year lasts until September 30. The May 2016 visa bulletin shows that on May 1, 2016, the date on which visas will be current for Special Immigrant Juvenile applicants, will regress back to January 1, 2010, for applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Applicants whose applications for Adjustment of Status are not decided by May 1, 2016, and whose Special Immigrant Juvenile Petitions were filed after January 1, 2010, will not be able to apply for Adjustment of Status until the visa becomes current again. Applicants whose applications for Adjustment of Status are decided by May 1, 2016, or whose Special Immigrant Juvenile...

A few months ago we met with a lawful permanent resident who unfortunately was diagnosed with cancer.  That’s devastating news to anyone. Naturally, her mother offered to come to Georgia to help with her grandchildren and daughter during treatment and recovery.  Her husband needed to continue working to cover their needs and the growing medical bills, which meant that they needed family to help. The only problem is that her mother lives in Mexico and she needs a Visa to travel to the U.S. Her mother immediately applies for a Visa to come to the U.S. to help her daughter for a few months. She submits all the documents requested and waits for her interview at the U.S. consulate in Mexico. After all the wait they denied her Visa, she was not allowed to travel to the U.S. That’s when the daughter called our office. At that point we pursued Humanitarian Parole on behalf of the mother. The application was filed from the U.S. and within 2 months of applying the mother was ab...

Below are five helpful tips that will better prepare you for filing any applications in the future, as well as important advice in case ICE ever comes to your home: 1.        File your tax returns every single year, and make sure that you file under the correct category and only claim those for which you are legally eligible.   Be sure to meet with an experienced tax specialist when preparing your tax returns, so they give you the proper advice for how to file.   Also, it is a good idea to request your tax return transcripts directly from the IRS once they have been processed and keep those for your records. 2.        Make sure to obtain copies of your entire immigration file from your previous attorney or what you filed on your own before coming in to meet with one of our attorneys.   We will better be able to help you if we know what was filed, and it will cause less delay to come in with all of y...

On October 22nd and 23rd of this year, several local Georgia immigration attorneys and I volunteered to help members of the United States Army stationed at Ft. Stewart in Hinesville, Georgia. Usually, military members, military retirees , and their families have access to legal advice through their local Legal Assistance Office within the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. Due to the complex nature of immigration law, the fair has been a recurring event where members of the military can obtain free legal advice from seasoned immigration attorneys. This year’s event included training all of the military attorneys stationed at Ft. Stewart on the effects of criminal convictions on immigration matter. We also gave a basic introduction of immigration law to the attorneys of the Legal Assistance Office so that they can better serve their military members. Finally, the rest of the two-day fair was spent advising United States Army members and their families. To me, the most rewa...

Prior to this year, every undocumented immigrant or legal immigrant who was removable due to being undocumented, a criminal problem, or otherwise was detained upon any contact with immigration. However, there were and are over 11 million removable immigrants in the United States, and there was no priority for who we detained and deported first. That meant a single mom who was undocumented with five kids and no criminal history could be deported before an immigrant with felony convictions just by having contact with immigration first. Resources were stretched in all directions, and there wasn't enough of a focus on detaining dangerous criminal aliens. The Enforcement Priority System In response, on November 14, 2014, immigration announced the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities. Click here:  Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities . These priorities created concrete system regarding which immigrants, who are removable, will be detained upon contact with immigration...

On June 1, 2015, Kuck Immigration Partners, through our amazing associate attorney Anna Erwin,  received a groundbreaking (but as of yet unpublished) decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board reversed the decision of the Atlanta Immigration Judge to deport our 11-year-old client and found that the Judge should have addressed our client’s eligibility for a Special Immigration Juvenile Visa (SIJS), and that the Judge should have continued the case to let our client pursue her SIJS through a state court custody petition putting her in the sole custody of her father. Our client is a native of El Salvador. Her mother abandoned her as a baby. Her paternal grandparents cared for her in El Salvador and her father came to the U.S. to work and support his family. In 2014, our client’s grandparents became too elderly and ill to care for her. Her mother still would not take responsibility for her care. Our client had no choice but to come to the United States where her f...

We have recently received a lot of questions about the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") requirement that ALL persons in the United States prove that they have health insurance or face a penalty, and specifically whether that means ALL foreign nationals.  The answer is yes, and no.  Anyone who meets the definition of a "tax resident," which is a person physically present in the US for more than 183 days in a year, must show that they have health insurance. This anyone with "lawful status" in the United States:  As The IRS Says on their  website : U.S. citizens living in the United States are subject to the individual shared responsibility provision, as are all permanent residents and all foreign nationals who are in the United States long enough during a calendar year to qualify as resident aliens for tax purposes. Foreign nationals who live in the United States for a short enough period that they do not become resident aliens for federal income tax...

El Presidente Obama declaro que ya llego el tiempo en el cual va crear una  expansión de su programa de discreción fiscal sobre la tema de inmigración .  El gran "Pero" es que no ha dicho exactamente lo que va  hacer.  Por cual razón es importante no dejarse engañar antes de que haya un anuncio oficial del programa que se va a instituir, se conozcan los requisitos para aplicar y  cuando se hará efecto. Por ahora recomendamos que si creen que calificaran para algún programa, que se mantengan informados y vayan preparando sus documentos de identidad y pruebas de residencia en el país.  Hay una expectativa que los que han vivido por un mínimo de 10 años en los Estados Unidos sin condenas criminales y que tienen hijos aquí, incluyendo los que están cubiertos por DACA, podrán participar en el programa.  No se conoce exactamente lo que el Presidente Obama puede hacer, pero eso es lo que se murmura hasta ahora. Si hay anuncio o acción del Presidente,...

In a recent unpublished decision , the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) issued a rather devastating opinion on the subject of immigration status and adjusting to permanent residence.   The BIA held that the foreign national accrued “unlawful status” (but not “unlawful presence) during the pendency of his ultimately denied H-1B extension of status petition and after the initial H-1B had expired.   As a result, the foreign national was subject to the provisions in INA Section 245(k) barring him from eligibility for adjustment of status because he had accrued more than 180 days of unlawful status. .   In yet another weird twist of the complexity of immigration law, the foreign national was” lawfully present” and authorized to work during the period of the pending H-1B extension (up to 240 days), but, because his petition was ultimately denied, all of that time was NOT held to be “lawful status.”   The BIA held that upon the denial of the extension of status, th...