My Blog — Page 23

DREAMers Need to Wait Until After the Election

August 1, 2012 by Matthew

All over the internet, there seems to be a buzz about President Obama’s policy to grant deferred action for non-citizens who would benefit from the DREAM Act. Everyone seems to be excited about the idea that individuals who are undocumented will have the opportunity to work legally and not fear deportation. Everyone seems to be praising President Obama for his policy. I do not share their enthusiasm.

President Obama has merely issued a policy. This is NOT a law. Once the Obama Presidency is over, the next president is free to discontinue the policy. What President Obama has done is not a wonderful thing. It is an election year stunt that is taking advantage of people who are desperate. During the Republican Primaries, Mitt Romney repeatedly stated that he opposed the DREAM Act, so it should be no surprise that Mr. Romney has come out and stated that he will not continue the policy, if he is elected.

A lot of people may be thinking that if they get their paper work in right away, it will be approved and they’ll have deferred action for 2 years. When President Obama announced his policy in June, he indicated that it would take the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) until August 15th to come up with a procedure for applying. There is a rumor that there will be a filing fee. I suspect that due to the volume of requests that will be received, as well as the bureaucracy that will be created to process the requests, it will take months for the requests to be processed. It’s very likely to take months for these applications to be processed. If CIS actually begins accepting applications on August 15th, it’s not likely that it will be approved before the election. If Obama loses and your application is not processed before Romney takes office, they you will have wasted your money on the application. If you file before the election and Romney wins, not only is it likely that you will not receive deferred action, but you run the risk of bringing yourself to the attention of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation. The election is a little over three months away. What’s the harm in waiting to file your deferred action request?

AILA Amicus Brief filed in Second Circuit

July 27, 2012 by Matthew

Last month, I filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The brief was submitted in opposition to a motion to dismiss by the Government. The Government was seeking dismissal because the petition for review was filed in the Second Circuit after the Board of Immigration Appeals rendered a decision that granted withholding of removal, but denied asylum, and remanded the case to the Immigration Judge to conduct background checks. On behalf of AILA, I argued that it was proper for the petitioner to file the brief at this time and that the petitioner should not have to wait for the completion of the background checks to file the petition for review.

Dirty Secret About Criminals Who Sell Fraudulent Immigration Papers

July 27, 2012 by Matthew

It probably shouldn’t be necessary to tell non-citizens not to purchase fraudulent immigration papers, so that they appear to be legal. It’s against the law and you should know not to break the law. I understand that it’s difficult to live in the United States without papers. However, there’s another reason why you shouldn’t buy fake immigration papers.

I have been practicing immigration law since 1997. I regularly see non-citizens get placed into removal proceedings because they purchase fake I-94 stamps, green cards, U.S. birth certificates, naturalization certificates, and U.S. passports. These people always get caught the same way: the people who sell the fraudulent documents keep lists of everyone that they sell fake papers to, so that if they ever get caught they can make a deal with the prosecutors. If you buy these fake papers, it is inevitable that you will be caught. This is because when the Government catches the person who you bought the fake papers from, your dealer in fake documents is going to give the prosecutor your name, so that he spends less time in jail. It’s just not worth it to purchase fake immigration documents.

Moreover, pretending to be a U.S. citizen when you are not is the immigration “kiss of death.” There is nothing that will save you from deportation, if you falsely claim to be a U.S. citizen. Just don’t do it!