I recently read a New Yorker article  by Adam Gopnik where he started the article and ended the article quoting Alexander Pope. Good article, but why quote a guy I did not even know was Pope? My article will quote someone a little more approachable, Billy Joel. Here goes, “Honesty is such a lonely word / Everyone is so untrue.” Who am I referring to? Our government and its treatment of Middle Eastern asylum seekers. The problem – though the…

At the end of March 2016, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel published a decision, Ledesma Cosino v. Lynch,  in which it found that a statute stating that a person who is a habitual drunkard lacks good moral character is unconstitutional. The statute, INA § 101(f), states: For the purposes of this chapter—No person shall be regarded as, or found to be, a person of good moral character who, during the period for which good moral character is required…

It’s time to admit it, the government does not want lawyers representing aliens in immigration proceedings pretty much before any of the agencies that deal with immigration matters, principally the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice. 1. Customs and Border Protection does not allow attorneys to appear with clients at the border. 8 CFR 292.5(b)  In fact, the Board of Immigration Appeals has held that officers do not even have to tell applicants for admission that they have the right…

When Donald J. Trump announced that he would impose a moratorium on admitting Muslims to the United States, there was consternation, except by the plurality of Republicans that continue to vote for him, that such an approach to a major world religion was bigoted and violative of principles of freedom of religion – and anti-American. Then media reported that Mr. Trump’s perspective was the opposite of the inclusive, tolerant approach under President George W. Bush. Such contrasting Mr. Trump and…