Get an inside look at the asylum case of "Mr. J" in the latest Statutes of Liberty. Mr. J is former foreign official who was cut off by his home government.
Today at 12:45pm
This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at
, an immigration-focused law firm located in Arlington, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact James for an appointment.
In the wonderful world of immigration, legal terminology matters hugely. In this column, we’ll explain what a few of the most important words mean, so our loyal readers (hi, commenters!) can understand more clearly what our clients have to learn. The three words of the day are: Petitioner, sponsor and admissible.
 for an appointment.
U.S. citizenship is the ultimate goal for most of our clients. It can take decades to obtain, but it can be lost in an afternoon appointment before a single consular officer. How that is done and why is the subject of this week’s column.
First, a key distinction: People who have green cards (“lawful permanent residents”) can lose their permanent residency without their consent; United States citizens cannot lose their citizenship, other than in extremely rare cases, without affirmatively applying for denaturalization. You can lose your green card by spending too much time abroad or by stealing a candy bar; a United States citizen can live abroad for decades and commit every crime in Title 18 of the United States Code without losing citizenship. Under the 14th Amendment as interpreted in
In one of our recent columns (
A cry for help if there ever was one. – Ed.), we suggested that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ days were numbered. So far, Secretary Mayorkas has kept his post. We want to explain why we think he has rough sailing ahead, and, in the course of doing so, offer some information about what’s going on at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mayorkas is an old immigration hand. When he became DHS Secretary, wise observers described his elevation as a signal that the Biden Administration intended to return to normalcy.
Returning to normalcy only works, as a policy, in normal times. Unfortunately for Mayorkas, these are not normal times at the U.S.-Mexico border. The number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the border (typically from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) is setting new records, and the numbers are expected to increase over the next six months.