Today, the United States Supreme Court dismissed the United States v. Texas case, a case revolving around the President's 2014 deferred action program for DAPA and expanded DACA. The decision allows the lower court's injuction to stand. It is sad and disheartening news for the immigrant community. A 4-4 decision created a deadlock for the Court, and no formal opinion was given on the merits of the case. The Court's Order simply...

Immigration attorneys and undocumented immigrants across the country are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Texas, a landmark case implicating the President’s authority to grant discretionary immigration benefits, such as deferred action. The decision is expected sometime in June. The case revolves around the President’s November 20, 2014 executive actions, which included deferred action for parents of United States citizens and permanent residents. The program, called Deferred...

On January 18, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear United States v. Texas. This means that the Supreme Court weigh in on the legality of President Obama’s executive action on immigration, specifically the expansion of “deferred action” to certain parents of U.S. citizens and residents (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans & Residents – “DAPA”), as well as to individuals who were brought to the United States as...

Dear Santa, With Christmas approaching quickly, I wanted to make sure you knew what gifts we’d love to have this year under our Christmas Trees. We’ve worked really hard this year to help our clients with their immigration problems, but we could use a few more tools around our office to better help our clients. Here is my wish list: • DAPA – Last year, the White House tried to give...

Yesterday, November 20, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to overturn the injunction currently blocking the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans & Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. In requesting the Supreme Court’s review of the decision of a 3 Judge Panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,...

On Monday, November 9, 2015, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s preliminary injunction (temporary block) of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans & Residents (DAPA) program and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. The decision of the 3 judge panel was a divided decision; with 2 Judges determining that the 26 states that brought suit had standing to bring suit and...

Managing Partner David Kolko and Partner Jennifer Casey recently had the opportunity to meet with Democratic Presidential Candidate and former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley. Attorneys Kolko and Casey were privileged to engage in a frank discussion with Governor O'Malley about U.S. immigration policy. Discussions included the expanded DACA and DAPA programs, executive action on immigration, the current administration's policies of detention of refugee families at our southern border and current...

Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals announced a decision to maintain the hold in place on the current DAPA program, pending litigation in Texas. This spring, Texas and various other states sued to keep this program from happening, alleging that it would economically harm those states. A federal judge in Texas agreed, and halted the program until a full hearing could take place on the program. Attorneys for the Department...

We are patiently and optimistically waiting for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to make a decision on whether to allow the Department of Homeland Security to implement the DAPA and expanded DACA programs while the Courts decide whether the DAPA and DACA programs themselves are legal. On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced that his administration would implement a Deferred Action program for Parents of American Citizens and Residents (DAPA)...

On February 16, 2015, a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts the implementation of the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans & Residents (DAPA) programs. The expansion of DACA and the DAPA programs were announced as a part of President Obama’s Executive Immigration Action plan on November 20, 2014. Effect of the Temporary Injunction on...

The Mexican government announced this month that starting January 15, 2015, all Mexican consulates in the United States will begin issuing certified copies of birth certificates for births registered in Mexico. This new policy will be of great assistance to the many Mexican nationals residing the United States in obtaining these vital records. In order to obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate, Mexican nationals will need to visit their...

Senior Associate Attorney Jennifer Casey was recently published in an opinion piece featured on Fox News Latino. Jennifer addressed the media’s frequent mischaracterization of President Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration as “Legalization.” Jennifer's Op-Ed is copied below, and can be found on Fox News Latino's website here: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2014/11/24/opinion-immigration-attorneys-plea-to-media-stop-using-l-word/ ******************************************************************************** Opinion: An immigration attorney’s plea to the media: Stop using the 'L' word By Jennifer Casey- Published November 24, 2014 - Fox...

On November 20, 2014, President Barack Obama announced the implementation of a wide range of administrative measures that the administration will undertake in an effort to improve the functioning of the American immigration system. One of the initiatives announced by the President is the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) Program.  This program provides temporary immigration benefits to certain parents of U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident children. In order to...