The world of immigration law is ever-changing, and perhaps more radically now than ever before. These changes were the subject of two recent community events attended by members of our team at The Modi Law Firm, PLLC.
Attorney Susham Modi attended the 2017 Spring Conference of the Texas New Mexico Oklahoma AILA chapter, held recently on South Padre Island in Texas. The three-day event covered a wide range of topics in both business and family immigration law in order to better equip attorneys from the area with resources to represent their clients to the best of their ability. Some of the key topics included:
Business Immigration Panels
- Trade agreement visas were a big topic. With President Trump’s stated attitude towards the North American Free Trade Agreement, how will existing H1-B1, E-1/E-2, and other NAFTA workers be eligible to obtain expedited clearance to enter the country and work, particularly investor clients and those who own business properties in the U.S.?
- Worksite enforcement is under considerable scrutiny. Employers are under tremendous pressure to make sure all of their employees are eligible to be gainfully employed in the United States. This panel included discussion of the new I-9 form, and current trends in employment enforcement, including penalties for those who employ ineligible individuals.
- One panel was dedicated entirely to the three new National Interest Waiver prongs. The National Interest Waiver is designed to forego the job offer requirement for a worker, but instead prove their admission is in the “national interest.” A panel at the event discussed how these waivers will change under the current administration.
Family Immigration Panels
- The big underlying theme of these panels was protection of families from deportation. With the grounds for deportation being so rapidly expanded for undocumented individuals, many of the panels focused on how to defend clients and maintain their residency, which will change dramatically along with immigration law over the next several years.
- Much of the focus has gone on the expansion of deportation priority to now include those convicted of nearly any crime. One panel discussed the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act, which has become extremely cloudy. Secondly, it also discussed the ability of prosecutors to seek deportation at their own discretion.
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