Statutes of Liberty

This sponsored column is by a guest columnist. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq., and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

On Aug. 25, a group of 125 Indian and Chinese nationals filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that USCIS is going to waste about a hundred thousand green cards. How? Therein lies a tale.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

Litigation over the constitutionality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) took a turn this week, courtesy of Federal District Court Judge Andrew Hanen. In this brief explainer, we will first provide the facts about what has happened to DACA, and then we will offer our prediction about the future of the program.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

[Note from James: The name and identifying details of the client, as well as all other individuals, have been changed to protect their respective identities. Other than those changes and our copyedits, this is entirely her story. We are sharing it with you to give our readers an idea of what it is like to apply for asylum. For a sense of the lawyer’s point of view, see Part I.]

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

Editor’s note: Stay tuned for part II of “An Asylum Case From Two Perspectives” next time!

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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 this two-part series, we’re going to show you an asylum case from two perspectives: that of the client and that of her lawyer. Today, we’ll show you our point of view — how an asylum applicant walks in the door, how we develop the case and how we present it to the government. We’ve altered a few elements to protect the identity of our client (e.g., the country of origin), but we’ll certainly give you the essence of the case.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

You, our patient readers, asked for pro bono success stories in our Readerpalooza poll, and we’re glad to provide!

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

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.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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 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.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

“Tax Law and the Undocumented” was one of the less-popular choices on our glorious Readerpalooza poll, but it’s tax time, and we want to make sure this information is out there, because someone really needs it. (Our motto here at Statutes of Liberty is “Decreasing Needless Suffering: It’s Taking Longer Than We Thought.”)

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

We’ve inflicted 40 columns on you — this, speaking generously, is our 41st.

This sponsored column is by James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq. and Laura Lorenzo, Esq., practicing attorneys at Steelyard LLC, 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.

Reality TV, just like 2020, is a train wreck — but we can’t stop watching. The TLC blockbuster show “90 Day Fiancé” is no different. Even Laura and Doran are highly invested in the cast of characters. (James is too busy watching “Wolf Hall” reruns. — Ed.) But how much of this reality TV show is actually real?