Archive for 2014

A difference of a day makes the immigration laws more consistent.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

On July 21, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1310 into law which, oddly, has the State of California correct what appears to be a scrivener’s error in the Immigration and Nationality Act. As harsh as the immigration laws are, there are areas where there is leniency in it. One such leniency is the petty crime exception. This exception makes takes away the harsh result of inadmissibility or deportability for one crime of moral turpitude. While figuring out what moral…

Law of unintended consequences pulls and pushes in current immigration problem

Sunday, July 13th, 2014

The flow of families with children and unaccompanied minors has been dominating the news recently. The causes of the trend are beginning to be explored with some care and insight by the media after at first relying on, I hate to say it, the imbecilic conspiracy theories of Texas Governor Rick Perry (I hate to say imbecilic theories, so, Rick Perry fans, I have not said his theories are imbecilic) and the Republican Party’s blame President Obama answer to any…

USCIS, is this any way to run an immigration system?

Sunday, June 29th, 2014

In one short week, this is some of the wisdom that has come from USCIS. 1. A, from Las Vegas, is a long-term permanent resident. A’s ten-year green card is expiring next month. A went online to the USCIS website to file to renew the green card. A then took the receipt for $450 to the Las Vegas USCIS office with A’s passport so A could get A’s passport stamped with proof  that A’s permanent resident status was not expiring,…

Why are families with minors streaming to our borders?

Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

The news is full of stories about how families with children and unaccompanied minors are flooding into the United States from Latin America. It is bad times in Latin America. Families are coming to America fleeing crime, violence, and the impacts of climate change. News reports indicate that people are operating under the misconception that the laws have changed and they are welcome in the United States. Changes in administrative practice may have helped foster that opinion. Some people attribute …