June 20, 2009 by Bradley Maged.

A recent trend has been for Service Centers to issue Notices to Appear (NTA) in Immigration Court for those who have applied for immigration benefits whose cases are denied.  This means that the foreign-national is put into removal/deportation proceedings.  Sometimes these notices specify a date for the hearing before an immigration judge and other times they do not.

It is therefore imperative to carefully examine one’s eligibility to adjust status prior to filing an I-485 Application.  The answer to the question “what’s the worst that can happen?” is no longer that the USCIS simply denies the case, but that they place the foreign-national in removal proceedings. 

If you receive an NTA, you should consult a qualified immigration lawyer immediately to explore all available options.

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June 20, 2009 by Bradley Maged.

According to an article on latimes.com:  “Lawmakers will gather at the White House next week for a working session on immigration reform, a meeting that has been highly anticipated by Latino leaders eager for President Obama to honor his campaign promise to put millions of undocumented workers on a ‘pathway to citizenship.’”

Change in the immigraion arena is needed.  If CIR has to be delayed, piece-meal initiatives such as the DREAM Act and perhaps an Executive Order or at least policy directive halting certain enforcement measures would be in order.  If this Congress and Administration are serious about passing CIR and understand how the current system is just not working for anyone, at least subtle changes should be implemented while waiting for true CIR to come to fruition. 

Politically, getting right-winged Republicans to shoot themselves in the foot yet again by demonizing immigrants would be a good strategy and would probably gain Democrats even more congressional seats in the 2010 elections.  However, Obama needs to balance his credibility regarding campaign promises with political expediency - and that is never an easy thing to accomplish. 

When Democrats raise the immigration issue, while controlling the White House, Congress and the President has a high approval rating - it would be a shame if CIR were to fail given this is what a majority of Americans clearly want.       

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