Brian D. Lerner Immigration Attorney & Deportation Lawyer Blog

http://ow.ly/yBIUZ DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson testified at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on DHS efforts to respond to the increasing number of unaccompanied children at the southern border. He announced that DHS has decided to establish a detention facility to hold families and expedite the removal of adults traveling with children. Today, the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees are also holding hearings on the issue.

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http://ow.ly/yBIlf As reported by The New York Times, the Obama Administration is planning to detain more of the Central American migrants who are crossing the U.S. border and accelerate their cases in immigration courts. To accommodate the change, DHS officials are rushing to open more detention centers intended for families with children, and immigration officers and judges will also be reassigned on an emergency basis to speed cases in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

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Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memorandum to President Obama on the progress made by DOJ and other federal agencies, including USCIS and DOS, on the implementation of federal benefits to same-sex married couples, following U.S. v. Windsor. The memo states that DOS has made and is in the process of making revisions to the language of the Foreign Affairs Manual to account for same-sex marriages in accordance with the Windsor decision http://ow.ly/yBHIO

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http://ow.ly/yBEST In light of the recent rise in the number of children from Central America crossing into the U.S., the White House announced that it will be partnering with Central American governments to address the underlying security and economic issues that cause migration. The U.S. will be providing millions of dollars in financial and program support to Central American governments relating to efforts it says will combat gang violence and strengthen citizen security, spur economic development, and improve the capacity to receive and reintegrate returned families and children. DOJ and DHS are also taking additional steps to enhance enforcement and removal proceedings.

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http://youtu.be/M4qPswFbdZk Learn about Immediate Relative and Preference Petitions

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http://youtu.be/kjbcCEHfZ-k Don’t fill forms out incorrectly! It could cause you years of heartache.

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http://ow.ly/xVHIE Another win for Brian D. Lerner:  AOS granted for couple where husband lives with children in California and wife lives in NY. They were married many years back in the Philippines, had 3 children and then divorced. Husband remarried and immigrated to the U.S. through his USC wife. They subsequently divorced and he and his first wife decided to remarry (she had entered the US as a visitor). Application granted with minimal issues.

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http://www.californiaimmigration.us The June AAO processing time report shows that all application and petition form types are “current” and within the AAO’s processing time goal of six months or less.

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http://ow.ly/xVGPw Another win for Brian D. Lerner: Divorce waiver granted for Client with very little (almost zero) evidence of a bona find marriage after becoming a permanent resident. I-751 was initially filed jointly, then changed to a divorce waiver, then a hardship waiver and then enough time passed that Client’s divorce was finalized.

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http://ow.ly/xN5QZ The AP reports on the surge in unaccompanied immigration children caught trying to cross the Mexican border. The article indicates that, between 2008 and 2011, the number of children landing in the custody of Refugee Resettlement fluctuated between 6,000 and 7,500 per year, and this year the total is expected to exceed 60,000. More than 90 percent of those sheltered by the government are from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, with many driven north by pervasive violence and poverty in their home countries, according to the report.

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