Dear Readers:
The last month has been a tumultuous one in immigration history. I was reminded of the weeks after 9/11 when immigrants, their lawyers and people around the country were shaken to the core and uncertain of the future. I felt that way after the election, but part of me hoped that the rhetoric of the campaign was just rhetoric.
Unfortunately, the last month has shown that President Trump’s campaign promises were more than empty. We saw three executive orders that dramatically changed the complexion of our immigration system. Two dealt with immigration enforcement and largely expanded the focus of removal efforts from criminals to the entire illegally present immigrant population. It also removed the main protection against mass and rapid deportations – the courts – by expanding an expedited removal process to the entire country.
The third executive order imposed a sudden and expansive ban on entering the US for nationals of seven countries. The ban was imposed with no notice and human tragedies played out at airports and on television screens across America. Mass protests ensued and teams of lawyers went around the country. We all know what happened – courts one after another ruled against the Administration until a national temporary restraining order was imposed and then an appeals court backed the judge up.
But we’re expecting a replacement Executive Order any day now and the fight to resume. We also saw and continue to see many disturbing reports about unprofessional conduct by immigration officers such as CBP officers pressuring permanent residents to sign away their green cards and US citizens being stripped of Global Entry status for having Muslim-sounding names and by good people with no criminal histories being targeted for removal simply because they were attending church or going to court for a traffic ticket.
But I’m not without hope. Tens of thousands came out to protest around the country to show solidarity with the nation’s immigrants. An army of lawyers showed they could do a lot and in a hurry. And immigrants themselves are standing up for themselves rather than just cowering in fear. The public is responding and opinion polls are showing that the country was and remains pro-immigrant. Even more so. I don’t know if the President will come around. But I expect Congress to care The mid-term elections are only a year and a half away and there is genuine fear by many in Congress that 2018 will be a wave election.
Some even speculate that the President may have some deals left to pursue on immigration. After the election, the President promised he would cut a deal that would make even the New York Times happy. We have not seen DACA dismantled. We’ve heard the President express concerns that US employers are relocating operations abroad because of a lack of access to enough talent. So while we fight unjust and unwise immigration proposals, we still can hope for some good news.
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This month much of our content focuses on dealing with the aftermath of the rollout of the new executive orders. We have articles about the border wall, the court cases challenging the travel ban, the enforcement strategy being pursued and more. Thanks go to many of my colleagues at Siskind Susser for their diligent work keeping our clients and our readers informed.
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In firm news, I want to congratulate my law partner Lynn Susser on being named by the Memphis Business Journal as a finalist for its Best of the Bar awards. We’ll find out if Lynn won in a little over a week, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s one of the city’s finest lawyers of any specialty. Good luck Lynn!
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As always, we invite you to contact us if our firm can be of assistance. Please visit our web page at www.visalaw.com for information on reaching the firm or scheduling a consultation.
Regards,
Greg Siskind
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.