Musings on Immigration

I Do Not Want to Go To Jail! Most people would do anything to avoid going to jail. When you’re at court looking at the armed deputy, all you’re thinking about his how to avoid leaving in the deputy’s shiny, cold handcuffs. Going on probation for 6 or 12 months seems very tempting, even as the judge is listing off all of the probation appointments you have to attend (and pay for), the restrictions on your movement and travel, the constitutional protections you have to give up, all the community service you have to do, the fines you have to pay, the drug tests you have to take, and the classes you have to complete (and pay for as well). None of that matters in the moment because you do not want to go to jail. You barely even hear the judge remind you that if you violate anything at any time, if you get a speeding ticket or simply are late to a drug test, you will be arrested and go back to jail for up to the entire remainder of your sentence. You think that probably won’t hap...

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...