“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems…they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Donald  Trump was wrong. Of course “Mexico” is  not sending people. Mexicans are coming, or at least used to. But, are there drug traffickers among them? Criminals? Rapists?  Of course. Are some good people? Of course.  The proportions don’t matter. The “problem,” people feel, is that they came…

The news of Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the election, is hardly digested. People, particularly, immigrants (in the vernacular sense) are wondering about what the impact of it will be on immigration law. The fact is no one knows, probably even the victor of the election, as his opinions about nearly everything are unformed. After all, on the Thursday after the Tuesday, he met with President Obama, whom he recently called, non-metaphorically, the founder of ISIS, and indicated he was honored…

Two people came to my office this week. One has a pending case and needs a lawyer to help him finish up. The other has a pending case but needs to start over as earlier prepared paperwork was misfiled and follow up material not provided, leading to the case’s being lost in the USCIS ether. Both have lawyers and both paid them substantial amounts of money. In the first case, the lawyer cannot attend an upcoming meeting and said he…

In August 26, 2016, the Justice Department informed the Supreme Court through letters that it provided it with erroneous statistics that formed the basis of the government’s victory in a 2003 case, Demore v. Kim, which upheld the government’s position that the mandatory detention statute at INA § 236(c) required the detention of aliens for an unlimited period, even years, for aliens fighting their cases in immigration court and such prolonged detention was constitutional because it was rare. The department,…