White House releases immigration reform proposal early

After saying earlier this week that such a document would not be released until next Monday, the Trump Administration today released “White House Framework on Immigration Reform and Border Security,” outlining the President’s plans for immigration reform.

In it, the administration proposes ending the Diversity Visa, making massive reductions to “chain migration” (i.e. family reunification) and a 10-12 year path to citizenship program for the 1.8 million immigrants currently enrolled in or eligible for DACA. Not surprisingly, the outline also requests at least $25 billion for a “border wall system”; whether this will entail actually building a wall has yet to be determined.

Although DACA reform remains wildly popular, with both politicians in Washington and the public at large, many of the plans would be extremely problematic for immigrants in the US and could lead to more detentions, child/parent separations and less refugees. It is uncertain how much, if any of these proposals will result in actual law, even if it does give a path to citizenship for DREAMers.

For more information on US immigration law, pick up the second edition of Immigration For Everyone, now revised for the Trump era; available in softcover and ebook editions. The author of the book, Attorney Gehi, is available for consultation.

Texas AG investigating San Antonio PD for ignoring SB-4

After the passage of its infamous Senate Bill 4 by Texas Governor Abbott, mandating that local law enforcement authorities cooperate with all requests on immigrants from federal authorities, tensions have arisen in San Antonio.

Immigrants, legal or otherwise, and even individuals with distinctively ethnic names have all reported feeling unsafe in the community since the passage of Sb-4 and Trump’s taking office one year ago today. Many police in Texas communities feel uncomfortable with the law as well. The Texas state attorney general is currently investigating the San Antonio police department who were reportedly involved in the “release of numerous suspected illegal aliens” last December.

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Given its proximity to the southern border, Texas has a large Latin and Spanish-speaking population who are widely regarded as part of their communities. This incident illustrates how divisive and detrimental hard-line policies can be on locales.

John Kelly working on immigration reform whilst Trump is in Davos

While President Donald Trump attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, immigration remains a hot topic in the states, especially following last weekend, when it was agreed that Democrats and Republicans would discuss DACA legislation over the next two weeks.

In his absence, the President has tapped his Chief Of Staff, John Kelly, to work on creating an immigration reform proposal. As has been the custom under Donald J. Trump this announcement was made in an impromptu, unconventional manner with Trump saying during a small press conference, “Hey chief, would you do me a favor? When we come back, when we come back, I want you to have a deal. OK? See if you can have a deal. OK.”

Deferring an important decision to a more competent staff member has become de rigeur for President Trump. The White House had previously promised to release an immigration proposal Monday but had one out today which, while including a path to citizenship for DREAMers, proved to be controversial.

FL Senator Marco Rubio apparently taking a hard line on DACA

Although he pushed for immigration reform as a member of the “gang of eight” in 2018, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, is now seeming more skeptical of proposed immigration reform legislation.

“I don’t believe that what we’re going to end up doing here can be a product of a gang. There won’t be a 12-person gang. What we do here cannot be a product of a group of people that come out of a room and say: ‘This is a direction we’re going.’,” said Rubio.

Because he is the child of Cuban immigrants, other Senators hoped for Rubio’s support on permanent DACA legislation and, without it, may have trouble creating a path to citizenship for DREAMers. Rubio has apparently taken a more conservative stance on the issue, following the lead of his party and President.

Regarding his 2013 activities, Rubio said “The difference between now and ‘13 is that there’s a Republican in the White House and a Republican majority in the Senate. The 2013 bill was designed through the context of a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president. Now we have a Republican Senate, a Republican House and a Republican president.”

Marco Rubio also indicated that ten weeks is too short a timespan to pass such complicated legislation and that any such bill would have to be as short and simple as possible for him to approve it.

EOIR Sets Out Rules To Streamline Changes Of Venue

The Executive Office for Immigration Review has issued new guidelines to reduce challenges that arise when immigration judges grant motions to change venue in a proceeding, including an instruction that motions to change venue after a merits hearing is already underway are “strongly disfavored.”

The guidelines document states that other than clerical transfers in limited circumstances, immigration judges only have the power to grant a change of venue when a party has filed a motion for one and the other party has been notified and given a chance to respond to it, noting that more than two motions to change venue by the same party are also disfavored.

EOIR issued the guidelines with the aim of dealing with the “problems in caseload management and operational inefficiencies” that result when immigration cases change venue.

“This Operating Policies and Procedures Memorandum sets forth guidance to mitigate these challenges,” the EOIR document states. “These policies and procedures, however, require that every immigration judge, in fairness to the receiving immigration court, ensures that ‘good cause has been shown’ before granting a motion for COV.”

It also states that the receiving judge must “follow the law of the case doctrine,” or in other words, cannot hear the case de novo or ignore any orders issued by the previous judge except in certain exceptional circumstances. This guideline does not appear to have changed from the previous guidelines the EOIR issued in 2001.

Both the 2001 and the current memorandum state that exceptional circumstances may include “a supervening rule of law; 2) compelling or unusual circumstances; 3) new evidence available to the second judge; and 4) such clear error in the previous decision that its result would be manifestly unjust.”

DHS report debunked; Feds ignore white supremacist terrorists

In a recently released report, the Department of Homeland Security stated that the majority of active “international terrorists” were born abroad. However, after close examination, the reports’ accuracy appears to be dubious at best.

Last weekend, The Daily Beast did a close examination and found several questionable aspects of this news from the DHS report. In addition to being authored by high-level political appointees who didn’t even look into the DHS as part of their research, the report completely ignores domestic terrorism such as those committed by American-born white supremacists.

Criminal Cases : Cancellation of Removal

At Gehi & Associates we will help you Fight your criminal immigration matters. Immigration proceedings may be brought against legal permanent residents due to certain criminal convictions that leave them inadmissible or deportable from the United States.

We fight to ensure that those with criminal convictions are not removed simply because of non-violent transgressions they may have committed in the past. A past fault does not automatically entitle USCIS to deport a legal permanent resident, and we fight to ensure that this power is not abused. For more info visit : http://www.gehilaw.com/criminal_cases.php

Divorce Separation Agreements

Gehi & Associates understands how difficult it can be to go through a divorce. We have dedicated ourselves to safeguarding your parental rights and property entitlements aggressively with personalized solutions and attorneys who advocate for your rights.

The attorneys at Gehi & Associates will work with you to file for divorce. We will work with you to draft and file a separation agreement. The terms to which you and your spouse agree may be incorporated into a future final divorce order, if applicable. For more info visit : http://www.gehilaw.com/divorce.php

Divorce

Gehi & Associates regularly assists clients through the murky and tumultuous waters of New York divorce and related family law matters. New York is a fault based divorce state meaning that a party must demonstrate a wrong committed by the other spouse in order to be granted the divorce.

The following are six statutorily enumerated grounds for divorce in New York:

Cruel and Inhuman Treatment: “Cruel and Inhuman Treatment” by one spouse to another. To qualify for a divorce under the ground you must show that your physical and mental safety in at risk if you continue living with your spouse.
Abandonment: In order to qualify under this ground you must show that your spouse has abandoned you for at least one year. This means that they have either a) kicked you out of the marital home or b) left the marital home with no intention of returning.
Imprisonment: If your spouse has been imprisoned for three or more years you may qualify for a divorce under this ground.
Adultery: If your spouse commits adultery you may qualify for this ground of divorce in New York. However, if you too commit adultery, encourage the adultery of your spouse, have sexual relations with your spouse after learning of his or her adultery, you may have waived this ground.
Judgment of Separation: If you and your spouse have not lived together because of a “Decree of Separation” or “Judgment of Separation”, given by the Court for at least one year you may qualify for a divorce in New York.
Separation Agreement: You may qualify for a divorce if both you and your spouse enter in a separation agreement that is notarized and the two of you live apart for at least one year and abide by all the conditions of the agreement.
Irretrievable breakdown (“No-fault” divorce): If the relationship between you and your spouse has broken down irretrievably for a period of six months or more, you may qualify for a divorce on this ground. Before the Court grants a divorce on this ground, you must affirm that all issues of custody, child support, property and asset distribution, and spousal support have been resolved.

For more info visit : http://www.gehilaw.com/divorce.php

Child Support

New York determines child support according to statutorily approved guidelines. Where grounds for deviation from the guidelines are present, the attorneys at Gehi & Associates. can help you make the appropriate motion to the court for an adjustment of support.

We can help you seek temporary orders of support while final orders are pending and we can also assist you in modifying existing orders of support. For more info visit : http://www.gehilaw.com/family_law.php