Olinger Law

ICE Detainers Missing The Target

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ICE claims its highest deportation priority is someone who poses serious threats to public safety or national security. But 4 out of 5 immigration holds (“detainers”) were used against non-citizens who have either no criminal conviction, or had at most a misdemeanor or petty offense. An immigration “detainer” is an ICE request that a local, state or… Read More »

Visa Application Equality For Same-Sex Spouses

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The U.S. will immediately begin recognizing marriage equality in visa applications. The State Department today announced that the same benefits are available to all lawfully married persons – whether same-sex or opposite-sex.  The announcement was made in response to last month’s historic Supreme Court decision on DOMA’s unconstitutionality. “As long as a marriage has been… Read More »

ICE’s Anti-DACA Lawsuit Dismissed

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A federal judge in Dallas, Texas dismissed a lawsuit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who favored deporting DREAMERS. The officers opposed the Department of Homeland Security’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  The court held that the Civil Service Reform Act, a law governing federal employment disputes, barred it from hearing the… Read More »

Victory for Aliens! Local Texas Anti-Immigrant Housing Law (Still) Unconstitutional

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Still unconstitutional:  Trying to oust immigrants from Farmers Branch, Texas through discriminatory, anti-immigrant housing laws.  Farmers Branch’s Latino population is over 45%.  The Dallas suburb’s ordinance criminalized housing rentals to those immigrants it considered unlawfully present.  The law never took effect;  it was blocked from the outset by two previous court decisions. The Fifth Circuit Court of… Read More »

Take Heart, Texans: Immigration Appeals Court on Marriage Equality

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“Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act . . .is no longer an impediment to the recognition of lawful same-sex marriages and spouses under the Immigration and Nationality Act if the marriage is valid under the laws of the State where it was celebrated.” So ruled the national Board of Immigration Appeals on July 17, 2013,… Read More »

DOMA’s Death ♥ and Marriage Equality

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s June 26, 2013 statment about immigration benefits following the Supreme Court’s declaration of DOMA’s unconstitutionality: I applaud today’s Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor holding that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. This discriminatory law denied thousands of legally married same-sex couples many important… Read More »

2013 World Refugee Day

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World Refugee Day was established by the U.N. to honor the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.  Learn more here.