President Trump issued a Muslim Travel Ban earlier in the year prohibiting travel of foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries: Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. However, the Muslim Travel Ban was blocked by courts in various states. On Monday, June 26, 2017, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on the Muslim Travel Ban to resolve the issue once and for all. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in October 2017. Until a final decision is made, the Supreme Court has allowed a limited version of the Muslim Travel Ban to go back into effect.
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In our last article, we discussed what airport security and border agents can search on your phone, laptop, and social media. This week we outline what precautions you can take to ensure that your privacy is protected at the border. The key to protecting your privacy is to setup safeguards before you travel.
Border control agents at the airport have great leeway on what they can search from persons to belongings. The 4th Amendment of the Constitution protects against unreasonable searches. However, searches at the border fall under a special exception that allows border agents to have a greater ability to search you and your belongings.
In the age of electronic devices that store nearly our entire lives, the issue of how far the border search exception can reach into our digital world has not been fully settled. Thus, there is no uniform implementation and your experience can vary based on the airport and the border control agent. However, there are some general rules, precautions, and tips that you should know if you ever encounter this situation. After many legal challenges to President Trump's Muslim Ban signed on January 27, 2017, a revised Executive Order was signed on March 6th. This second travel ban has many similar restrictions as the first; however, some changes have been made as well.
The implementation of the Executive Order has varied greatly from airport to airport, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have or have not been complying with federal court emergency stays and temporary restraining order. Furthermore, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security have provided varying official statements and quotes to the media regarding the effect of the Executive Order.
Whether your parents are living in the United States or abroad, there are ways to sponsor your mother and father for a Green Card (also known as legal permanent residency). Parents are considered "Immediate Relatives," which is a preferred category according to United States immigration agencies. In other words, the processing times for a parent's Green Card application is significantly faster than other preference categories such as a sibling's application.
As an immigration attorney, I receive many questions daily regarding the immigration process. Below are ten questions I hear often. I have provided short answers for each question as well. I hope they help!
As many know, a criminal record could have potential negative consequences on immigration applications. However, many do not know that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) looks beyond arrests and charges when evaluating whether a foreign national should receive immigration benefits. For example, regardless of whether there was an expungement, USCIS looks at the underlying alleged actions and crime. In other words, it is possible to have an expungement or a sentence suspended, but USCIS can possibly still approve OR reject immigration benefits based on the underlying crime alleged and the circumstances surrounding it.
Wedding Dress: Check. Wedding Reception: Check. Honeymoon: Check. Now, what?
Congratulations on your marriage! This is an exciting time of merging two lives into one. If you are a foreign national and your spouse is a United States citizen, you may be eligible to apply for legal permanent residency (also known as a Green Card). A U.S. citizen's spouse is considered an "immediate relative," which is a special class or category according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). |
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