Category Archives: Immigration Articles

As we have been informing you, since Day One of his swearing in, President Biden proposed a new immigration law and signed the first Executive Orders aimed at improving the life of our immigrant population, and streamlining a new, secure path to integrating those currently out of legal status into our society the right way, the legal and humane way.

Relief is expected to come to many individuals in the United States without permission. While this is great news, it is important to understand that nothing is about to happen over night, and in all likeliness, when it will be fully implemented, it will still apply only to people meeting certain criteria.

Beware!

Keep in mind that an Executive order can only go so far. Only Congress can change the law. So, in the coming weeks and months, despite what you might start hearing on some media channels or online, please remember that the President cannot change the law, although he can surely set the tone and establish the direction of the new policies.

Beware of people or firms that ask for any advance payments to “pre-register” you for any immigration relief service they may provide or help facilitate for you “in the future” based on the anticipated reforms. These are unscrupulous and illegal entities!

Stay Alert!

• Learn to discern between rumors and news. Trust only mainstream news organizations, and inform yourself from what is clearly presented as news, and not commentary or “analysis” that mentions no facts or specific legislation.that report the news, not speculation.
• Be prepared with your own paperwork. Keep track and safeguard documents that demonstrate your presence in the United States, such as bills, receipts or accounts of any kind with your name and with dates on them. Any immigration reform that might happen is likely to require from an applicant to prove that they were present in the US for a certain period of time before a specific date it is likely that you will have to prove that you have been living in the United States before a certain date.
• Respect the law! Regardless of your legal immigration status, you still live in a community that abides by local, state and federal laws. It is in your best interest to observe and respect those laws, so that you will have as little trouble as possible to adjust your status when the time comes. Past mistakes might end up preventing you from being approved, despite the potential offered by new immigration legislation. The best way to avoid their consequences is to not make them in the first place! Also keep in mind that until a new law with new requirements is in place, the existing law is still valid, and people can still end up deported.
• Be very mindful of individuals who might work for legally established law firms or government agencies, but will take it upon themselves for their own gain to “help” you solve your case and “guarantee” results! This is not only morally wrong, it is also illegal!

As positive as the news from the new White House has started to look, it is important to understand that the work has just begun on overhauling an entire immigration system. Your best course of action is to stay informed from the right sources and when the time for action comes, rely only on a qualified and experienced immigration lawyer to help you see the process through successfully!

Our firm has been representing clients successfully for over three decades. Leslie Snyder, P.A. is a highly respected attorney with experience in various aspects of the immigration law, an ally you will be only happy to have on your side to win the battle, no matter how hard and tedious it might get.

For years, stripping naturalized US citizens of their citizenship was reserved for those who committed extreme crimes. A new program started by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has started to take a closer look at existing naturalization cases that might be based on fraud. The problem is that some of these cases might be based on very thin evidence, even downright mishandling of the naturalization documents by government employees themselves. The New York Times article details the case of a Haitian family that found itself in the middle of such a situation, years after their naturalization.

“Second Look” started as “Operation Janus” under the Obama administration. Both programs seek to identify people who obtained US citizenship despite deportation orders or criminal indictments. However, the article outlines other cases that point to an increase in denaturalization cases by the Trump administration, under criminal and civil premises.

“Since January 2017, United States attorney’s offices have filed 107 criminal naturalization fraud cases. Among these cases are a number against people like Odette Dureland, naturalized citizens who purportedly committed fraud but who deny those claims. Many involve people whose histories raise no national-security concerns — an apparent departure from the Obama administration’s priorities. But the number is on par with prosecutions during the Obama era. Where there has been a marked rise in denaturalizations under Trump is in the civil process. Lawyers in the Office of Immigration Litigation filed more than 65 civil denaturalization cases between January 2017 and November 2018, according to data from the Justice Department, twice the total number of civil cases that the office filed in the last two years of the Obama administration. Some of these people would most likely have been denaturalized under any administration, including people who were convicted of serious crimes or were discovered to have participated in war crimes. But the Trump administration’s prosecutions have served another purpose: In news releases and declarations by senior officials, the denaturalization cases have been used as cudgels — tools for attacking the legal immigration process as riddled with fraud, as pathways for criminals and terrorists to enter the United States.”

The full in-depth analysis by the New York Times is HERE.

As always, contacting our firm to help you navigate through the uncertainty of your particular situation is also a safe bet. Our experience and expertise is sure to be one of your best allies.