Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Crime Victims Can Apply for a U-Visa
If you have been a victim of a crime, especially a violent crime, you usually face a fair amount of hardship, stress and trauma. Knowing this, immigration has a program for immigrants who are victims of crimes, and who are helping law enforcement in solving or prosecuting crimes. The U-Visa Program The program is… Read More »
ICE Detention Program Held to be Unconstitutional
A federal court has found that a program where Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked with law enforcement agencies to detain immigrants, and potentially deport them based only on biometric information from a computer report, is unconstitutional. Secure Communities The program, called Secure Communities, works like this: When someone is in the custody of law… Read More »
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Arguments in Important Cases
Immigration law is constantly changing, and policies put in place are routinely being challenged for legality. Sometimes, the legality of these programs gets argued all the way to the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court does not hear a great many cases every year (compared to the number of times litigants request the Court… Read More »
Per Country Employment Visa Caps Still Exist
The employment green card system was almost altered for the better recently. The change would have affected how employment based green cards are given out on a per country basis. Currently, aside from the other hurdles to obtain an employment based green card, applicants also had to deal with what are known as per… Read More »
What is Temporary Protected Status?
We know that in cases of asylum, people fleeing their home country to avoid oppression, danger, reprisal against them if they are returned, or severe hardship, have a pathway to come to America and stay here, at least temporarily. However in many cases, an immigrant’s home country is not permanently dangerous, but temporary conditions… Read More »
Children Born or Adopted Overseas by Servicemembers Face New Immigration Hurdles
It seems like every week there is another announcement from the government making it more difficult for people to become residents of the United States. A new rule—really, a new definition of an existing rule that has to do with who is eligible to become a citizen—this time threatens the citizenship of children born… Read More »
Government Gets Tougher on Immigrants with Life Threatening Illnesses
Very quietly, the government is second guessing a prior decision to start deporting immigrants who are sick, ill or diseased. It was a move that was largely criticized as being inhumane when it was first announced. Rules on Immigrants with Life Threatening Illness The normal process allows immigrants in poor health (usually only those… Read More »
What Is Asylum?
In the world of immigration, we often talk of people who have come to this country seeking work, jobs, money, opportunity or to be with family. We do not often discuss those who come to this country for what is perhaps the most serious reason: to avoid persecution, prosecution, or even death, in their… Read More »
Citizenship Denied to Child of Same-Sex Couple
The United States government is being sued over a refusal to grant citizenship to a newborn child. While the government usually can’t be sued when making citizenship decisions and in enforcing its immigration policy, this case presents a novel issue, because the adoptive parents of the child are gay. Child Denied Citizenship The parents… Read More »
What is the Naturalization Test?
Online and in social media, there is an abundance of “naturalization tests,” a word that people use to describe tests that immigrants must take as a part of becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States. Some of these tests include questions on a grade school level, and some have questions that even an… Read More »
