Possibility of Second Chances for Deportees

Legislators are considering adding a provision to the immigration reform bill that would offer a new opportunity for previously deported people to return to the United States. To qualify, deportees would need to have a child, parent, or spouse with legal permanent resident status or U.S. citizenship, and be free of serious criminal convictions. This group would possibly also include people who first arrived in the U.S. before age 16.

This provision is highly controversial, and some people believe it would give an unfair second chance to people who already broke immigration laws. Others feel it is necessary to enable families to be reunited. Conservative lawmakers are still insisting that border security must be the first priority, and granting paths to citizenship should be conditional on achieving certain targets of border security. However, the bill is far from done; senators have filed at least three hundred potential changes, according to the Washington Post.

One of those possible changes would allow U.S. citizens to petition for their same-sex spouses to get green cards. This would allow same-sex couples to have equivalent ability to petition for their spouses as opposite-sex couples have, regardless of what happens with the Supreme Court decision on DOMA.

Lawyers at Glickman Turley LLP are closely following the immigration bill, and we look forward to advising immigrants of their options under the new law.

Glickman Turley Wins Case Allowing Immigrant to Return to US as LPR

Glickman Turley successfully defended a Brazilian green cardholder who the Department of Homeland security claimed had abandoned her green card when she was working in Angola.  The Immigration Court Judge, after trial, determined that the immigrant always intended to return to the United States, had close family living in the US and had secured employment upon returning.  The Court terminated the removal proceedings and re-admitted the immigrant as a returning legal permanent resident.

The Potential for Post-Election Immigration Reform

An editorial published today by Bloomberg  highlighted that support for immigration reform is inevitable now that President Obama has been re-elected. The editorial stated that Latinos, known to be a socially conservative demographic, comprised 10 percent of the total vote, giving "Obama almost three votes for every one earned by Romney." 

President Obama campaigned on immigration reform that would address the nearly 11 million illegal immigrants in the US. Republican Speaker John Boehner has stated that he is "confident that the president, myself, other can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all." 

The editorial further noted that: "Standard & Poor’s has found that cities with high immigration levels show improvements in credit ratings, tax bases and per-capita incomes. High-skills immigrants, meanwhile, not only increase productivity but also generate jobs."

For representation on immigration issues, please contact Glickman Turley LLP at 617-399-7770.

Glickman Turley's experienced attorneys represent individuals on a wide range of immigration matters, as well as other legal issues. Please contact our attorneys if you wish to discuss representation on immigration matters, real estate purchase and sales, condominium associations, criminal defense, non-profit law, civil litigation, business litigation, business law, trademark law, probate matters including wills, powers of attorney, health care proxy, same-sex co-parent adoptions, guardianships, animal law, or LGBT legal matters.