Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. While the general subject of immigrant rights often results in significant political debate, certain groups of immigrants receive special protection under the law. One such group of immigrants are certain Afghans and Iraqis covered by the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. If you are covered by the SIV program, a law passed in 2013 requires that your visa application must be processed within 9 months. However, on September 20, a Federal court ruled that the Trump administration violated this law with visa delays for certain Afghans and Iraqis
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. “Asylum, you know I look at some of these asylum people, they’re gang members. They’re not afraid of anything . . . and they say ‘I fear for my life,’ they’re the ones causing fear for life. It’s a scam, it’s a hoax”. These prior comments by President Trump from early April clearly show that he opposes immigration to the United States based on asylum. Thus, it was no surprise when, on April 29, he issued “Presidential Memorandum on Additional Measures to Enhance Border Security and Restore Integrity
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Some records, such as winning the most Super Bowls or scoring the most points in an NCAA college basketball game, receive universal praise. Other records garner a more mixed reaction. Such is the case with the recent news that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set a record in December, 2018 by arresting the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants with no criminal background. Specifically, 36.5 percent of the undocumented immigrants arrested by ICE in December, 2018 had no criminal record – the highest such percentage since ICE started categorizing arrests
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The US government consists of 3 branches – an executive branch (the President and his administration), a legislative branch (the Congress), and a judicial branch (the courts). Because of the anti-immigration policies of President Trump and his administration, and the general inability of Congress to reach an agreement on immigration legislation, it has largely been left to the courts to protect immigrant rights. This point was again evidenced on April 8 when Federal District Court Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction against and stopping President Trump’s Migrant
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. If you live in a foreign country and have had an issue under the US immigration laws, have you ever used the services of a local office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in your foreign country? This local USCIS office may have helped you with a family visa request, an international adoption, a refugee application, or some other matter. Unfortunately, this convenient and accessible support in your foreign country will no longer be available to you under a recent plan announced by the Trump administration. Last
Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. It is not often that we associate President Trump with immigration rights. However, yesterday, the President did act in favor of 1 group of immigrants. President Trump extended the rights of Liberian immigrants who had protected Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status to stay in the United States for an additional 1 year. Because of a civil war in Liberia, Liberian immigrants were first granted temporary protected status to live and work in the United States without deportation by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. In 1999, when this temporary
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