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San Francisco Bay Area Immigration Blog

Senator Kaine Prediction for Election

Senator of Virginia and Democratic party vice-presidential candidate, Tim Kaine, has predicted not only a win for his party, but also, immigration reform as an immediate priority for Hillary Clinton once she takes power. According to Kaine, both Democrats and Republicans are keen to move forward on the immigration issue and favor immigration reform over

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New Report Shows that Immigrants Often Lack Necessary Legal Representation

On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, the American Immigration Council published a new report entitled, “Access to Counsel in Immigration Court,” which is the first national study of its kind to look at immigrant access to attorneys in the U.S. immigration courts. In the U.S., access to counsel for immigrants in removal is not a constitutional

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New Study Highlights the Economic Benefits of Immigration in the U.S.

A new report, “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration,” published on September 21, 2016, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), shows that past immigrants, including their descendants, have had a positive economic influence on the U.S. economy. The study reveals that some of the fiscally favorable consequences of immigration relate

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Three New Judges Sworn Into San Francisco Immigration Court

On September 23, 2016, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) swore in 15 new immigration judges, including three judges that will serve here in the Bay Area. The agency, which oversees immigration courts in the U.S., currently has more than 500,000 cases and now has 291 immigration judges to assist with that caseload. The

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USCIS to adopt parole policy for U visa petitioners and family members abroad

USCIS recently announced that it will implement a parole policy for U visa petitioners and qualifying family members who live abroad. The U visa is available to immigrant victims of crimes who have been helpful in the investigation of certain qualifying crimes and who meet other criteria. Since only 10,000 U visas are available each

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Bollywood Actor Detained by U.S. Immigration Authorities for Third Time

Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, was detained upon arrival at LAX airport in Los Angeles last week. Despite being one of the wealthiest and most famous actors in the world, this was his third time being detained by U.S. immigration authorities. Although the reasons for his repeated detentions are unknown, many believe that it is

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Study shows almost half of DACA-eligible population has not applied

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has released a report on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was implemented four years ago, in August 2012. DACA is a program that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday and before June 2007, to receive a renewable two-year work permit

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Ninth Circuit holds that ICE may detain without bond hearing only those taken into custody promptly after release from criminal custody

In Preap v. Johnson (08/04/2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that, only noncitizens with criminal convictions who are taken into immigration custody “promptly” after release from criminal custody may be detained without a bond hearing. The Court held that the mandatory detention provisions under of INA §236(c) do not

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Questions raised over Melania Trump’s immigration history

Melania Trump’s immigration history is under scrutiny since the publication of a series of photos by the NY Post last week. The pictures appear to show Mrs. Trump working as a model in the United States in 1995, which contradicts both her and her husband’s statements that she came to the U.S. in 1996. It

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