Legalize LA

The folks at American Apparel make it no secret that they support immigration reform. Check out their Legalize LA webpage for more. According to their website, American Apparel employs quite a lot of immigrants, and when the say "Made in the USA" they actually mean it. Most, if not all, of their clothing is manufactured in downtown Los Angeles.

The Latest on Obama and Immigration Reform

According to a June 19 article at USAToday.com, President Obama stated that he is "committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform" during a speach at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast. Click here to read the article.

I urge those of you who support immigration reform to call your Senators, Congressmen, and the White House to make sure that your voices are heard! Click here to find a list of useful links on my website. Near the bottom of the page, you can type your zip code into the "Write to Congress" button to find your representatives.

2009 AILA Annual Conference in Las Vegas

Last week, we returned from the American Immigration Lawyers Association's annual conference in Las Vegas, NV. The annual conference is great way to keep current on the constantly changing immigration laws and regulations. I learned a lot during the four-day conference and had some fun too! Here are a few photos from the trip:

Defending the Mentally Ill

Yesterday's New York Times article, Mentally Ill and in Immigration Limbo, presents a very sad picture of how immigrant detainees who are mentally ill are sometimes treated. It's a story of a society and laws unsympathetic to the plight of these individuals, but also illustrates how difficult it can be for those who want to help the mentally ill.

Immigration Laws and the U.S. Technology Industry

Matt Richtel's article in today's New York Times brings to light some of the problems with the current immigration law as it relates to the technology industry in the United States. It seems obvious to me that we should have immigration laws that permit U.S. companies to hire the very best and brightest in the world. This article explains how the current structure of the law makes this difficult and how sometimes those foreigners who are rejected by U.S. companies return to their home countries to compete against them.

Immigration Reform May Be Possible This Year!

Take a look at today's New York Times article, "Obama to Push Immigration Bill as One Priority." According to the article, Obama plans to begin talking publicly about immigration reform in May and seriously get to work on the issue this summer. Immigration reform could come as early as this fall!

Immigration Detention

Thanks to The New York Times for shedding some light on the failure of our federal government to house immigrant detainees in an honest and ethical way. Nina Bernstein's article, Immigrant Detainee Dies, and a Life Is Buried, Too, describes how an immigrant died while in immigration custody and was then forgotten. Efforts to obtain further information about the man were frustrated because his date of birth and alien registration number (A number) were unavailable.

As an immigration lawyer, I face similar difficulty when trying to locate a recently detained immigrant. Though the majority of those who contact me are from the same county in which my office is located, the immigrant is frequently sent to one of several detention centers in different states! Family members contact me asking for my assistance in representing their detained relative. Though the family members may have a date of birth, they rarely have an A number. There is sometimes a delay in updating detention center records so that they might not reflect the fact that the immigrant is already in their custody, further frustrating our efforts. A common excuse given to me is that they cannot release information on the location of an immigrant "for their protection." Understandably, certain records should not be disclosed without the authorization of the immigrant, but this basic information should be made available to licensed attorneys. They then state that when I obtain a signed release from the individual, they will provide further information. How is one to obtain a signed release if they cannot locate the immigrant? With the current system, valuable time may be lost before an immigrant is located and permitted to communicate with their attorney. This is one example, among many, of an area that needs significant improvement. Perhaps a topic for another day: The difficulty immigrants face in trying to phone their attorney, family, or friends while in detention.