Matthew — Page 16

Why I Do Free Consultations

February 15, 2013 by Matthew

A lot of people are often surprised that I do free consultations. Many immigration lawyers charge consultation fees. One of the reasons that I do free consultations is that I consider my consultations my pro bono work. Rather than take pro bono cases and helping only a couple of people, I provide free consultations to everyone. This permits me to help more people.

I do not look at consultations as just a means for me to obtain a new client. Many of my consultations result in my telling prospective clients that I am unable to help them. Due to the harshness of our immigration laws, many people do not have a means of remaining in the United States. People who enter the United States illegally usually cannot obtain a green card through marriage or any other means. Not all immigrants with convictions that subject them to deportation are eligible for relief. Sometimes people are fighting their removal case for years and do not realize that there is nothing left to do to fight the case.

I do not always make appointments for everyone that calls me for a consultation. Whenever, I get a call for someone looking for a consultation, I screen the call to see if their problem can be resolved over the phone without meeting in person. If I can answer the person’s questions over the phone without them making an appointment to meet me, I will.

CNN Article Shows Importance of Hiring an Immigration Attorney

February 4, 2013 by Matthew

I just read an article on the CNN website. The purpose of the article was to discuss the problems that people who are trying to immigrate to the United States legally are experiencing. One of the examples was a woman who is married to a United States citizen who applied for a green card. After her daughter was born, she traveled to her country so that her daughter could meet her grandparents. When she tried to return to the United States, she was not permitted to enter with her visitor’s visa. Once you apply for a green card, you can no longer enter the United States with a visitor’s visa because you no longer have a visitor’s intent.

What the article fails to mention is that there is a process for an applicant for adjustment of status to travel outside of the United States while their application is pending. Someone in this situation should apply for something called “advance parole.” Had she filed for advance parole before leaving the United States, she would have been allowed back into the country. Unfortunately, too many people foolishly believe that they can do things without an immigration lawyer without realizing the problems that they create for themselves. Because these people tried to do their green card application without a lawyer, their family is now separated.

Prosecutorial Discretion Appears to Be Working

December 21, 2012 by Matthew

The Immigration Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) released its year end removal numbers. There were 409,849 people who were deported. According to the ICE press release, “approximately 55 percent, or 225,390 of the people removed, were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors – almost double the removal of criminals in FY 2008.val numbers for fiscal year 2012.” A lot of Republicans have criticized President Obama’s program for providing deferred action for DREAMers and other efforts at exercising prosecutorial discretion in enforcing immigration laws because they view him as not enforcing the immigration laws. However, what President Obama is doing is prioritizing the limited resources of the ICE. As a result of this prioritization, the Obama administration has deported double the number of non-citizens with criminal history from 2008. Based upon these statistics, it would seem that President Obama’s plan is working. By exercising prosecutorial discretion in non-priority cases, the ICE is able to focus on priority cases involving immigrants with criminal history.