Dear friends,
A Real Immigration Crisis has been created and worsened by the Trump Administration.
While Trump’s “Crisis Proclamations” in November and February were not credible or accurate, a true humanitarian crisis has been created by his administration and will be worsened by the implementation of his recent orders.
On April 16, 2019, Trump’s Attorney General issued an administrative ruling in a case, Matter of M-S-, 27 I&N Dec. 509 (A.G. 2019), which virtually eliminates the authority of Immigration Courts to release asylum seekers from the confines of a federal detention facility while their claim is processed. Trump and his administration hope to prevent asylum seekers from having access to the information, assistance, and resources which are necessary to win an asylum claim [1] or simply to frustrate these poor individuals to a point where they will abandon their hope and their asylum claim.
On April 29, 2019, Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum that seeks to have application filing fees charged to asylum seekers in order to process their claim for asylum. Only Iran, Russia and Fiji assess an initial fee to apply for asylum. This rule would be contrary to the intent of our asylum laws and will hopefully be overruled by a Federal court, but it emphasizes the anti-immigrant sentiment of this administration.
It is clear that for the remainder of his time in power, Trump intends to reject, deny, and obstruct Immigration petitions, applications, requests and claims, regardless of their validity.
We have also observed an increase in unfounded and improper denials of immigration applications by the Trump administration. The administration will state that applications are incomplete or have been sent without the required supporting documents when this is not the case; they will request additional documentation not required by law; or they will declare that the status of the applicant is different than what it actually is in order to disqualify an otherwise eligible applicant.
These denials require businesses, immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members as well as their immigration attorneys to file responses, motions, appeals or Federal lawsuits, which inevitably take more time, money and resources to complete. Nevertheless, the immigrant community must continue to persevere. It is critical that organizations, businesses, and individuals continue to support our immigrant community and continue to file for lawful immigration benefits with greater persistence than ever before.
If you believe you are eligible for an immigration benefit or you have been the victim of a wrongful denial by the immigration service contact our office at: (617) 303-2600 and request an initial consultation with one of our experienced immigration lawyers [2]. We will be happy to help you.
Respectfully,
The FitzGerald Law Company Team