Immigration law, as immigration lawyers (and their clients) say often, is quite complex. There are a lot of hoops people have to jump though to get a benefit. Forms on top of forms asking the same things over and over. Fees on top of fees. Petitions, applications, security checks, medical exams, interviews, investigations, verifications. With all the stuff that is deemed necessary, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State should, one would think, want to eliminate pointless…

While immigration is often in the news, the nitty gritty of immigration law, which I write about in this blog, is not. Now, the nitty gritty is in the news with the raging debate about VAWA (Violence Against Women Act). The Republican House of Representatives seeks to modify the current version of VAWA, or the package of laws and amendments that make up the protections for battered people (VAWA does not just apply to women, but to all battered spouses…

The usual outcry from people concerned about “illegal aliens” in the United States benefitting from legislation such as a DREAM-like Act, amnesty, or comprehensive immigration reform is that those that benefit from such legislation will end up going to the head of the line to the detriment of those who played by the rules. The fallacy of the argument is that illegal aliens face severe penalties that not only force them to the end of the line but create situations…

An amazing thing about immigration law is that hot topics can be issues that have been festering for years and one would imagine would have been resolved by now. For example, the Supreme Court recently decided a case, Judulang v. Holder, a very important decision about 212(c), a relief statute that disappeared fifteen years ago and involves principally the right to seek forgiveness for  illegal conduct or convictions that took place before it disappeared. The issues in the case have…