Blog

Hello, everyone.  It’s been a while since I wrote a column here.  I hope to write more in the coming weeks!  I felt like I should write what’s on my mind and heart these days, during this crazy time of coronavirus and elections and national...

I have been representing clients in Immigration Court for about seven years now.  I have been in Immigration Court literally hundreds of times.  First of all, it seems quite clear to me that this is a very hard area of law to practice for attorneys in West Michigan....

I’ve mentioned before that the Attorney General of the United States and the Secretary of Homeland Security can issue written decisions that affect immigration law. Years ago, the Attorney General at the time, Mr. Eric Holder, issued a decision that will change a lot...

I’ve discussed immigration court defense and would like to continue this subject by reporting something that happened a few years ago in the world of immigration law that it is very important. There are many different sources of immigration law.  Many of my clients...

By far the most difficult part of my practice is receiving the first call from a wife or a husband telling me that his or her husband or wife has been arrested by immigration.  There have been many reports about new raids that are being conducted by Immigration and...

I lived in Mexico for one fantastic summer, in Jalisco, where I studied Spanish at the University of Guadalajara.  It was one of the best times of my life.  Unfortunately, it only lasted a few short months.  Because I lived in Mexico for such a short time, I don’t...

When potential clients come to sit with me at my conference table to discuss criminal cases and the possibility of hiring me to defend them, several questions always come up.  The first and most important one is, “will I be going to jail?”   Obviously, the answer to...

American immigration law, especially since several changes were made in the late 1990s, has a reputation for being very strict.  This reputation is appropriate.  However, there are several ways in which immigration law is generous and fair, and takes into...

There is an old saying that lawyers often repeat: “the man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.”  I do not wish to call anyone a fool, but individuals who represent themselves often make small problems much bigger.  I have represented individuals in...

I’ve explained that the consequences of criminal convictions are different for those with legal status, and for those with no legal status.  In my previous post, I left out that ANY legal immigration status in the United States can be taken away, except U.S....