Author: Immigration lawyer Alena Shautsova
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE detention reform has come under scrutiny by both camps ― proponents who seek stricter reform and proponents who seek more lenient reform. ICE has taken steps to reform immigration detention and published a list of its detention reform accomplishments.
Author: Law Office of Alena Shautsova
A recent article about deportation in the Washington Post alerts immigrants to a situation they may be unaware of that can lead to deportation. According to the article, when undocumented immigrants plead guilty to a misdemeanor, they often find themselves in the same category as defendants charged with violent crimes.
Author: New York Immigration Lawyer Alena Shautsova
The new provisional unlawful presence waiver process is for certain individuals who seek a waiver of inadmissibility only for unlawful presence. They can now apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver while in the United States and before departing for their immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. Under the current process, which continues to remain in effect, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States have to travel abroad and be found inadmissible at their immigrant visa interview before they can apply for an inadmissibility waiver.
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Supreme Court Ruled That Padilla Does Not Have A Retroactive Effect
Author: New York Criminal Immigration Lawyer Alena Shautsova
The case of Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U. S. 356 (2010) was one of the most exciting decisions in the recent years which acknowledged the importance of Immigration advice for non-citizens at the time of criminal proceedings. It one more time confirmed that a non –citizen pleading guilty to a crime, even a misdemeanor sometimes essentially waives all his immigration rights and signs his own deportation order. The Padilla case effectively opened a door for non-citizens who were not provided a competent advice regarding the immigration consequences of their guilty pleas to file a motion to vacate their guilty pleas.
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Author: Immigration Attorney Alena Shautsova
On February 20, 2013, the United States Supreme Court held that Padilla does not have a retroactive effect and cannot be applied to convictions finalized prior to its decision.
The text of the opinion in Chaidez v. United States (2013) is availble here.
According to SCOTUS, Padilla created a new rule and it cannot be applied to those cases there were decided prior to its creation. Justice Sotomayor delivered a dissenting opinion, arguing that no new rule was created by Padilla.
In 2011, ABC News and the Washington Post polled workers to determine how prevalent sexual harassment was in the workplace and evaluate the public’s concern about it. The survey revealed that one in four women and one in ten men had experienced workplace sexual harassment. Other statistics were as follows:
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TRAC Immigration releases report on subjects of ICE detainers.
http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/310/
Surprisingly, the prevailing majority of those for whom the detainer is issued do not have criminal record: the charges either were dropped prior to os subsequently to the filing of the detainer.
Only a small percentage of all detained by the ICE committed a Level 1 serious offense.
USA Today reported on leaked parts of a draft White House immigration reform bill. The released portions – legalization, border security, interior enforcement, and worksite enforcement–take a moderate approach and are consistent with the broad principles the President issued a few weeks ago.
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The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) has released a new educational video to remind employers that they should not re-verify the employment authorization of lawful permanent resident workers when their Permanent Resident Cards expire. OSC’s new video illustrates that this practice is not permissible and may lead to a violation of the anti-discrimination provision. Watch the video in Spanish and English here.
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Author: Asylum Lawyer Alena Shautsova
Every year the Office of Immigration Statistics issues an Annual Flow Report that offers information about U.S. refugee and asylum statistics. The most recent statistics available are for 2011 and the annual flow report indicates that 56,384 persons gained admission to the United States as refugees during 2011. Burma, Bhutan and Iraq were the leading countries for the flow of immigrants and there were 24,988 individuals granted asylum by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ).