Immigration and Firm News

A short summary of President Obama's announcement tonight on Executive Action is on my advocacy blog, Seattleimmigrationlawyerblog.  Information in the form of policy memos, FAQs and more is starting to pour in from the various agencies about how they will implement the program. However, many details remain to be seen and will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.  The Administration's plan calls for expansion of deferred action, expansion of those who can file for provisional stateside waivers of … [Read more...]

Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC interviewed immigration lawyer, elder statesman and guru, Leon Wildes, about his representation of John Lennon of the Beatles. The US government threatened to deport him because of a cannibis resin conviction in the UK.  In this interesting segment, O'Donnell and Wildes discuss the history of the use of the government's exercise of prosecutorial discretion.  During his representation of John Lennon, Wildes filed a Freedom of Information Act request and discovered … [Read more...]

President Obama is scheduled to announce his Executive Action Plan tomorrow, Thursday night.  Meanwhile, today, the Senate is debating immigration reform and President Obama's anticipated announcement.  Besides offering some relief for families, we are hoping to see some other administrative fixes that deal with the legal immigration system.  See my two blog posts on proposals for family and business fixes that can be accomplished administratively without the need for Congressional Action.  As a … [Read more...]

I previously posted two articles about the American immigration Lawyers Association's (AILA) letter to President Obama recommending administrative or Executive Action to fix the nation's immigration laws due to inaction by Congress. Here, I want to add some more ideas that could be accomplished by Executive Action that do not require an Act of Congress. By way of review, in my prior post, Executive Action - Business Immigration Fixes Needed, I discussed the recommendations made by AILA … [Read more...]

This blog posts follows up to an earlier post, Executive Action - Business Immigration Fixes Needed, discussing the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) letter to President Obama of August 6, 2014 requesting Executive Action. AILA recommended additional fixes to family immigration, prosecutorial discretion and enforcement related issues that could be achieved administratively in the face of Congressional inaction on statutory changes. AILA states that "the guiding principle for … [Read more...]

On August 6, 2014, the American Immigration Lawyers Association sent a letter to President Obama recommending administrative fixes or executive action to tweak the business immigration system in light of Congressional failure to pass an immigration reform bill. The list of recommended actions are within the realm of administrative law and existing statutes. Only Congress can change or amend statutes, including underlying visa categories, requirements and numbers. However, within the confines … [Read more...]