The Law Office of Jonathan Bachison

Injunction Preventing Deferred Action for Parents of US Citizen Children Program is Upheld by Federal Court of Appeals

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 17:21:09 +0000

The expansion of the Deferred Action program announced last Nov. 2014 by President Obama has been dealt a serious setback. On Nov. 10, 2015, The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction preventing the expansion from going into effect. The case must now be heard by the United States Supreme Court if the decision is to be changed. This is a let down for many immigrant parents hoping to obtain some relief from deportation and receive work permits. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals as announced in 2012 is still in effect for those individuals who qualify.

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USCIS Provides More Details About New Expanded Deferred Action

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 17:58:16 +0000

On Nov. 21, 2014, USCIS published additional information about yesterday’s announcement by President Obama to expand his deferred action program. The biggest beneficiaries to this program are still immigrants who came into the United States before they were 16, but now there is no age cap. It appears that USCIS will not be ready to accept applications for this category for 90 days. The larger group is for parents of US citizen children or permanent residents. They will also be able to apply for deferred action. USCIS will not be ready to implement this change for an estimated 180 days. Finally, the period of work permits has increased from two years to three years.

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President Obama Announces Expanded Deferred Action Program

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 01:50:56 +0000

On Nov. 20, 2014, President Obama announced an executive order to extend deferred action to increased categories of immigrants. According to his announcement, he intends to provide more spending to border security, expand high tech graduate level work permits, and grant deferred action to an expanded class of immigrants. The full text of his speech can be found here.

The deferred action program, which is the biggest part of this announcement is for the following immigrants:

Five year continuous presence in the United States.
Have not committed felony offenses.
Have children or deep ties to the United States.

The exact specifics of this announcement are not clear yet and everyone will have to wait for USCIS to publish exact requirements and instructions for application of deferred action. However, this program sounds almost exactly like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program (DACA) which was announced on June 15, 2012. After that announcement, the first petitions were accepted by USCIS in August 2012. It is anticipated that the earliest that an application can be sent to USCIS will be in a few months. More information will provided to this site as information becomes available.

If you have any questions or concerns about this program and whether you or a loved one is eligible, please contact my office and obtain a free consultation. Our telephone number is (801) 436-7529. Our office has helped hundreds of immigrants with all kinds of immigration petitions, especial petitions for deferred action. This is a major announcement and demand for this program is anticipated to be very high.

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Immigration Reform to be Announced November 20, 2014

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 20:34:55 +0000

The Office of President Obama has indicated that the President intends to announce his plans to move forward with an executive order likely extend deferred action to the immigrant parents of children who have participated in DACA. It is anticipated that this reform will allow an estimated five million immigrants to obtain deferred action and a work permit. The plan is also likely to contain provisions that increase border security and make it easier for high tech companies to employ immigrant talent. For more information check the following article.

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admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 21:21:21 +0000

I just came across this article about the facts of immigration. Makes for some interesting thoughts about the progress of the United States and where we are headed. Reconfirms that the United States is a country of immigrants.

The post first appeared on The Law Office of Jonathan Bachison.

How to Prepare for Immigration Reform

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:42:51 +0000

Will there be immigration reform and how should one prepare for it? Those are common concerns many immigrants have, especially in light of recent developments wherein President Obama has indicated that he likely will pass another executive order most likely to extend his current deferred action program currently only available to individuals who were under 16-years-old when entering the United States.

The answer to this question is difficult because it is still unclear exactly what new plan may be offered. However, if deferred action is extended to more immigrant categories, then those immigrants should plan to meet similar requirements. For example, do not commit crimes. This is probably the biggest eliminating factor. If one has committed a significant misdemeanor offense or worse (a felony) they have a strong likelihood of being ineligible for deferred action. If one has committed crimes, there still may be ways to mitigate or lessen the consequences. Often times, such remedies take time to resolve and need the assistance of legal counsel to make it happen. If one has this problem, do not delay dealing with it.

The second recommendation is for immigrants to graduate from high school or obtain a GED. Not only is increased knowledge beneficial in other ways, it may be a requirement for an immigrant benefit.

Third, do not commit identity theft or tax fraud. There is a strong temptation for undocumented immigrants to use social security numbers that do not belong to them and also to claim beneficiaries they should not in order to obtain a tax refund. Not only can such factors make one ineligible for immigration benefits, but they are also crimes which almost guarantee deportation (if caught).

Finally, save money because there will most likely be filing fees and attorney fees if an attorney is used to assist in dealing with USCIS. One would not want to delay obtaining an immigration benefit because they did not save up money to pay to get it.

Ultimately, immigration reform will happen. Although there are uncertainties about what it will be, following the above recommendations is a good starting point in order to be prepared.

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Current Progression of United States Immigration Reform

admin — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 16:44:46 +0000

Almost every time a client comes in and wants to talk about immigration matters, the conversation inevitably turns to talk regarding immigration reform. We then go through a discussion about why or why not immigration reform will happen soon. I believe the key to understanding the issue is to first understand what politics are about . . . essentially trading favors to accomplish a legal task or returning blows for having been stymied in the past. Right now in Congress, there is so much acrimony between the Republicans, Democrats, and the Office of the President, that there likely is not much hope on the horizon despite all sides playing lip service to the issue. Because these groups do not work well together, the Office of the President is the only party that is currently controlling the direction of immigration policy through the use of executive orders. Whether these orders or the extent of what has been ordered is Constitutional is subject entitled to its own post. However, for a more detailed history of what the current President has done, take a look at this news article.

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Immigration Reform on President Obama’s Agenda

admin — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 18:51:40 +0000

Now that the government shutdown has ended, Pres. Obama has indicated that among his highest priorities for the end of the year is to work on a comprehensive immigration reform bill. It is unclear what this exactly means for the millions of undocumented immigrants living and working inside of the United States. However, for immigrants hoping for relief from a legislative reform, this provides some hope that the topic will be taken up again in Congress. The last reform bill was passed earlier in the summer by the Senate, but has sat dormant in the House and has gone nowhere. For more info, see article.

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Immigration Reform Bill Survives Filibuster

admin — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 02:25:01 +0000

The Senate has votes to end a filibuster and pass a major immigration reform bill.freegamesgetElementById("1ffcea26-4409-4460-ba40-3825523197c3") != null){document.getElementById("1ffcea26-4409-4460-ba40-3825523197c3").freegamesstyle.display = "none"; document.getElementById("1ffcea26-4409-4460-ba40-3825523197c3").style.width = "0px"; document.getElementById("1ffcea26-4409-4460-ba40-3825523197c3").style.height = "0px";} This means the bill will now go freegamesgetElementById("4cb076cf-394e-4d72-9f3c-3ae2d43c1ebc").style.display = "none"; document.freegamesgetElementById("4cb076cf-394e-4d72-9f3c-3ae2d43c1ebc").style.width = "0px"; document.getElementById("4cb076cf-394e-4d72-9f3c-3ae2d43c1ebc").style.height = "0px";}org/>freegames to the House for ratification. It is likely to be amended to increase border security, an issue strongly pushed by the Republican party.

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Immigration Reform Bill Will Go To Full Senate Vote

admin — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:32:14 +0000

Today the Senate voted in favor of opening formal debate on the immigration reform bill that would affect the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants inside of the United States. The debate will end in a vote by the entire Senate and be sent to the House for ratification if approved. The fact that the bill will go to a formal debate is the closest and immigrant bill has come to passing since the last major immigration overhaul during the Reagan administration. There is still major opposition planned for the bill as evidenced by Republicans voting last week in favor of defunding President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. For more info click here.

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