Trump Extends Rights of Liberian Immigrants To Stay In U.s For 1 Year

Trump Extends Rights of Liberian Immigrants For 1 Year
May01

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

May 1, 2019
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ICE Arrests More Than 280 At Texas Business in Largest Workplace Raid In A Decade

ICE Arrests 280 At Texas Business in Workplace Raid
Apr09

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Can you imagine having a typical day at your workplace before being suddenly arrested for criminal conduct by the US government?  Probably not, but such was the fate of more than 280 employees of CVE Technology Group, a technology repair company, located in Allen, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), on April 3.  These employees were arrested by a unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for working in the United States unlawfully. According to Katrina W. Berger, a special agent in charge for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations in Dallas, “Our focus is the criminal investigation. .

April 9, 2019
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American Bar Association Proposes Major Overhaul of U.S. Immigration System

American Bar Association Major Overhaul of U.S. Immigration
Apr04

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Would it surprise you if someone said that there are issues with immigration in the United States?  Probably not, but when the US immigration system is criticized in strong words by one of our leading lawyer associations, you probably should take notice.  Thus, a March 2019 American Bar Association (ABA) report proposing a major overhaul of the US immigration system deserves our attention. The ABA report, entitled “REFORMING THE IMMIGRATION SYSTEM Proposals to Promote Independence, Fairness, Efficiency, and Professionalism in the Adjudication of Removal Cases”, is an update to a similar report issued by the ABA in

April 4, 2019
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DACA Flight Attendant Detained For More Than A Month From Re-Entering United States

DACA Flight Attendant Detained For More Than A Month U.S.
Apr01

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Selene Saavedra Roman has lived in the United States for 25 years (since she was 3), is a graduate of Texas A&M, is married to a US citizen, has no criminal record, is trying to obtain permanent resident status, and left the US for purposes of her job as a flight attendant.  Does it seem reasonable to detain a person such as Ms. Roman from re-entering the US when she returns to the US in connection with her job?  While the answer to this question should be no, unfortunately, because Ms. Roman’s US immigration rights are

April 1, 2019
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Supreme Court Approves Broadened Government Power to Detain Criminal Immigrants

Criminal Immigrants Detained by U.S. Government
Mar21

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. If you oppose President Trump’s immigration policies, did you vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election?  One effect of President Trump being elected is that he is able to appoint Supreme Court justices who share his harsh views on immigration.  This point was evidenced in the March 19 Supreme Court decision in the case of Nielsen v. Preap (Case No. 16-1363), which held that the government has a broad right to detain immigrants with past criminal records under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA

March 21, 2019
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Writs of Mandamus: Bringing Consular Officers into Compliance with Law

Writs of Mandamus Bringing Officers into Compliance with Law
Feb08

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. More than a year has passed since Donald Trump imposed his inhumane immigration policy on people from Muslim-majority countries, leaving hundreds of visa applicants in a state of frustration and administrative limbo. Although the travel ban was to be reviewed every six months for the purposes of assessing its necessity, it has remained in effect indefinitely. Under such circumstances, nationals from countries subject to the travel ban find no option but to file a waiver request with the U.S. Consulate in hopes of reuniting with their beloved ones, and carrying forward their prospective endeavor

February 8, 2019
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U.S. Permanent Residency through Employment-Based Visa Categories: Far from Unfeasible

Permanent Residency through Employment-Based Visa
Jan25

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Trump’s stringent immigration policy running afoul of America’s long-standing tradition of embracing immigrants is widely known across the globe. Anti-immigration policies as the centerpiece of Trump’s agenda through which U.S. major issues could allegedly be resolved have stoked concerns among foreign nationals. In such an unwelcoming climate, individuals with outstanding academic and professional profile as well as investors (qualifying for the EB-1, EB-2 NIW and EB-5 categories) may view U.S. permanent residency unachievable

January 25, 2019
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U.S. Government Shutdown: Touching the Lives of Hundreds of Thousands of Federal employees

U.S. Government Shutdown: Touching the Lives of employees
Jan14

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. Three weeks have passed since the federal government shuttered, leaving almost 800,000 federal employees frustrated. Marked as the longest government shutdown in the U.S. history, it has been driven by the disagreement between Donald Trump and the Congressional democrats over the construction of a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border. With Donald Trump persistently refusing to sign a spending bill without the requested $5.7 billion for the border wall, it is hard to predict how long the government shutdown will last. The shutdown has resulted in the closure of some departments including

January 14, 2019
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2 Federal Courts Issue Decisions to Block Use Of Pentagon Funds For President Trump’s Border Wall

Block Use Of Pentagon Funds For Trump’s border wall
Jan08

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. While President Trump has announced many anti-immigration policies as President, probably his most well-known anti-immigration policy is to construct a wall at the United States southern border.  Yet, despite President Trump’s frequent calls for a border wall, various Federal courts have opposed certain actions by the Trump administration designed to help build the border wall. As further evidence of the statement in the preceding sentence, 2 Federal courts have recently issued decisions to block the use of Pentagon funds for President Trump’s border wall. On December 10, in the case

January 8, 2019
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Can the EB-5 Investment Capital Be Acquired Through a Gift or Loan?

EB-5 Investment Capital Be Acquired Through a Gift or Loan?
Dec14

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program dating back to 1990 continues to be an attractive route to U.S. citizenship and the participation rate for the program has remained high among foreign investors. Importantly, almost 40,000 EB-5 petitions have been filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) over the past three years. Since its inception, the EB-5 program has proven to be beneficial to the U.S. economy as well. It has truly emerged as a vital source for job creation and has helped stimulate the U.S. economy.

December 14, 2018
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