Olinger Law

Immigration Appeals: What are Your Options?

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It is frightening and confusing to have USCIS or an immigration judge deny your application for an immigration benefit.  If you have already gone through immigration court proceedings and lost your case you may be facing deportation.  There may still be the ability to fix your case and challenge the decision. What does it mean to file… Read More »

Only In Texas – The “War On Birthright Babies”

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Texas’ “war on birthright babies.”  I wrote about this in August when the Texas school year started. Now it’s made national news, as the Washington Post  opined last week on the “act of stunning official arrogance:”  Texas’ refusal to issue birth certificates – for children born in the US – to undocumented parents. Blameless U.S.… Read More »

USCIS – Immigration Extreme Hardship Waiver

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Immigration extreme hardship waivers for non-citizens can be very tricky.  The government’s decisions vary. On October 7th USCIS drafted guidance on the I-601 Extreme Hardship Waiver. The American Immigration Lawyer’s Association has a video about this.  What does this mean for people seeking the immigration extreme hardship waiver?    USCIS likely may not have a final memo… Read More »

Immigration Prisons Violate Federal Laws

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Immigration prisons routinely violate federal laws such as the Prison Rape Elimination Act.  The Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for detaining non-citizens, regularly violates their civil and constitutional rights in immigration prisons, known as “detention centers,” according to a fact-finding study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent bipartisan independent federal agency.  … Read More »

Congress’ Immigration Detention Quota

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The massive immigration prison system is because Congress has an immigration detention quota in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act 2015:  “not less than 34,000 detention beds.” At taxpayer cost, ICE keeps thousands of non-dangerous, non-criminal immigrants in private and local jails.  ​Most at risk are children, women, the disabled and seriously ill, and asylum-seekers who’ve fled… Read More »

USCIS e-Filing Ends After August 30, 2015

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USCIS e-Filing ends after August 30, 2015. The Electronic Immigration System (US ELIS) will eventually replace all the legacy e-Filing applications.  US ELIS is an online, account-based system to file certain benefit requests, get electronic notification of decisions, and receive case status updates.  Until US ELIS accepts filing for all applications, those that were eligible for e-filing will have… Read More »

USCIS Biometrics “Attestation”

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An “attestation” is now part of the USCIS biometrics appointment. Applicants must sign a statement “re-affirming that the content of their form was complete, true, and correct at the time of filing.” The attestation is also appearing on USCIS forms as they get revised. Biometrics procedures otherwise remains the same. The Application Support Center will… Read More »

U.S. Citizen Children May Have Trouble Enrolling In Dallas ISD

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Dallas County Drawn Into Birth Certificate Debate by Julián Aguilar, The Texas Tribune August 5, 2015 Texas’ second-largest county has adopted a controversial policy that advocacy groups say could infringe on the civil rights of U.S. citizens born to undocumented parents. The Dallas County clerk’s office announced on its website that as of June 1 it no… Read More »

Jailed Immigrant Children Released

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The New York Times Opinion Pages | EDITORIAL A Judge’s Rebuke of Immigration Detention By THE EDITORIAL BOARD AUG. 5, 2015 Children do not belong in prison. The mass detention of families offends American values, a lesson this country learned long ago at Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain and the other Japanese-American internment camps of… Read More »