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…

Voters choose whom to vote for by what is dearest to them. I remember in high school, my wood shop teacher (Back in the day, kids were offered all kinds of classes in high school such as shop, auto repair, art, music, home economics, and still learned how to read.) encouraged us to vote for politicians who voted for progressive forestry policies. Citizens vote based on a politicians views on their pet issue, be it Israel or global warming (both…

After changes in immigration law in 1995, when an alien applies for asylum, he or she can only obtain a document from USCIS authorizing him or her to work if his or her asylum case is pending more than 180 days. The immigration court maintains an “asylum clock” to calculate how long a case has been pending. Like everything else in the law, the issue becomes the definition of the words, in this case, “pending,” and like everything else in…

Today I write again on a technical matter, discussing the case, Matter of Silva-Trevino, again. As you may recall from writings  here and here  and here, in this case, the then-attorney general, Michael Mukasey, issued a decision deviating from the prevailing law regarding what an immigration judge may consider in determining whether someone committed a crime of moral turpitude. This is important because depending on the number of such crimes, when they were committed, and the severity of the sentence,…