OC Immigration Attorney

Rick Perry did not offer a clear answer when pressed on how he would handle immigration reform during an interview Tuesday night with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News. When asked to pinpoint a solution, the Texas governor could not or would not offer one.

“I know it’s one that people ask a lot and the fact is it’s just an intellectual conversation until we secure the border,” Perry said on Van Susteren’s show. She asked how he would deal with the 11 million-plus illegal immigrants currently residing in the country.

“What would you do? What would you do?” Van Susteren continued to ask.

“I’m not going to sit here and go through and talk about all the different options because there may be some ideas that haven’t been talked about yet, so I’m going to stick with folks like Sheriff Arpaio who is with me today and who is endorsing my candidacy, and work on securing the border, because until you get the border secure, all of these issues about immigration reform are frankly just intellectual engagement,” Perry said.

“You know, governor, with all due respect, I think that’s half an answer,” Van Susteren said.

“I think I’ve laid out a number of concepts and ideas. I don’t know which of those the American people want and that’s the reason we need to have this long and lengthy conversation,” Perry said later in the interview. “I don’t know if I have all of the right answers and one thing I have learned on this very volatile issue of immigration and immigration reform, we need to talk to the American people, we need to get their input, we need to listen to them.”

A Laguna Niguel Client was approved for his conditional resident status by USCIS based on his marriage to a US citizen. He is originally from Great Britain, and he met his US Citizen wife while traveling in southern Europe. The couple stayed in contact for many months before he visited her in the United States. Over the next few years, the couple visited each other a couple times per year when they could and in December 2010, he proposed.

Originally, the plan was for them to marry in 2012 and she would petition for him to consular process in the United Kingdom. However, after he arrived in Laguna Niguel for a visit in Spring 2011, the couple decided they did not want to live apart any longer. They decided to marry and begin their lives together in the United States. In Summer 2011, they married in a simple courthouse civil ceremony. We assisted them in putting together all the necessary evidence and forms (including the I-130 and I-485) and filing for his green card.

Everything went smoothly and he received his work authorization within a couple months. About 4 months after we filed, we attended our adjustment of status interview and everything was approved at the end of the USCIS interview in Santa Ana.

The couple plans a large ceremony and reception in Spring 2012 to celebrate with family and friends. They are happy to have the immigration issue resolved, so he can begin working and helping to provide. If you are considering the adjustment of status process, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free consultation. Managing attorney Jay Nunez will explain the process and how we can help.

Latinos were a key factor in the defeat of Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, author of the state’s controversial immigration law, according to a poll taken of voters.

Latinos voters supported Pearce’s challenger, fellow Republican Jerry Lewis, a political newcomer, by a three-to-one margin, according to Project New West, which conducted the poll.

They account for 13 percent of the recall electorate. Lewis won by 53.4 percent to 45.3 percent, a difference of around 1,800 votes.

“I think we can make a pretty good assumption that the Hispanic vote really made a huge difference in this election,” Lewis, a charter school executive, said in an interview with Fox News Latino. “I did a lot of door-knocking in Hispanic neighborhoods. I went on Hispanic shows.”

If Latinos exercise their right to vote, the Latino vote has the power to determine elections on a local, statewide, and national level. Latinos (and all voters) need to thoroughly study the issues the care about and fully understand each candidates’ position before deciding whom to vote for.

About 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Alabama state Capitol in Montgomery to call for passage of the DREAM Act and to protest the state’s new anti-illegal immigration law, widely regarded as the toughest state law crafted to combat illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration has been a volatile topic in Alabama since the legislation known as HB 56 was signed into law by Republican Gov. Robert J. Bentley in June. Anecdotal evidence suggestions that many illegal immigrants have fled the state. The demonstrators took a far different approach Tuesday.

“Undocumented, unafraid!” they chanted.

Eleven protesters sat down in the middle of a street in hopes of blocking traffic. The location for their sit-in protest: across from the Capitol and the first White House of the Confederacy. The effect on motorists was minimal. Police had already sealed off the street a block away and were rerouting traffic elsewhere.

We recently received good news that the N-400 naturalization application was approved for a Laguna Hills client. She previously applied for naturalization several years ago but was denied due to having a conviction during the five year good moral character statutory period. She came to us after the denial.

We refiled the case categorizing her as the spouse of a US citizen, which shortened the good moral character period to three years. After providing USCIS with all the documents regarding the criminal conviction and a detailed legal brief explaining why she was eligible to naturalize and was not deportable, USCIS approved the case.

Her husband and her were very happy about the outcome. They look forward to traveling as soon as she becomes a US citizen. They avoided traveling previously because they were afraid she would be put into removal proceedings upon arrival in the United States.

If you reside in Orange County and are considering the naturalization process, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free consultation. Managing attorney Jay Nunez will personally meet with you during a confidential consultation and help you better understand the options available to you.

USCIS Director Mayorkas and the Office of Public Engagement invite you to participate in a teleconference on Wednesday, November 9 from 1:00 – 2:00 pm (EST) to discuss new USCIS policy guidance on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. This guidance will be available at www.uscis.gov/outreach for stakeholder review and comment shortly.

If you are considering the EB-5 process, contact The Nunez Firm to schedule a free consultation. Managing attorney Jay Nunez will personally meet with you to discuss whether the EB-5 or E-2 process might be beneficial for you.

Summary:   Aliens not lawfully in the United States cannot sue federal agents for monetary damages based on a claim of wrongful detention pending deportation, given the extensive remedial procedures available to and invoked by them and the unique foreign policy considerations implicated in the immigration context.

Mirmehdi v. United States