In a totally different context, someone recently told my wife that life is complicated. It is, to say the least. In an era marked by globalization and the pursuit of better opportunities, for better or worse, migration has become a significant feature of modern...
Despite being a peninsula with no direct land access to other countries, Florida – like New York – has a great deal of immigrants within its borders. But unlike New York, Florida has a Governor (and far too many Republican legislators) who would prefer that the...
I know I write a lot about the H-1B visa program. Probably too much. But this month’s missive must be written. In today’s globalized world, the United States continues to be one of the most sought-after destinations for skilled immigrants (even despite all the...
In the spirit of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, I thought a short missive on the connection between immigration and mental health would be appropriate. And when I refer to mental health, I’m speaking to both attorneys and their clients. Many years ago, I...
Sometimes I just need to get up on my soapbox and speak loudly. Having said that, I write this piece with a little trepidation. Why? I’ve been working in the immigration world for a long-time now, either on Capitol Hill or in private practice. Thirty-five years to...
It’s March 2023. We’re a little over two years into the Biden administration, and for two of those years, the Democrats “controlled” two branches of the federal government. I put quotes around “controlled” because it feels like a misnomer to say that given that...
It’s that time of year again, and I do feel like I write about this annually, but given the emails that I’ve seen come across my desk over the past month or so, with attorneys having difficulty setting up their own accounts on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...
The Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (“Form I-9”), is three (3) pages long. The basic instructions are fifteen (15) pages long. The Handbook for Employers (M-274), which is the Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) guidance for completing this...
Last week a longstanding client of mine came to the office with one of his siblings and her six children. They had recently been paroled into the United State at our southern border, and they were seeking assistance from our office so they could apply for asylum in...
I’ve written about this before. Prosecutorial Discretion (or “PD” for short) is the authority of, for our purposes, a federal agency charged with enforcing the immigration law to decide where it should focus its resources and whether or how to enforce, or more often...