The Great Depression profoundly affected the psyche of the American people, just as today’s Great Recession spawns untold emotional harm that will last for generations. Like a toxic seed, the Depression planted itself deeply into the emotional minds of those who lived through it, only to be transmitted from generation to generation, as parents told…

As spring approaches, Washington DC’s Kabuki Theatre plans a new production. A mash-up of Kafka and Beckett, “Waiting for Barack” will begin with a casting call on March 21 as thousands of would-be thespians, consisting mainly of immigration reform activists, are expected to descend on Capitol Hill, harboring dreams of a lead role in…

This is not a post about the injustices afflicted on same-sex couples by U.S. immigration law and policy. Rather, it raises the pressing need for American business leaders to stand up for themselves by “coming out” about their use of the employment-based immigration laws.

In my 30 years of immigration practice, I’ve gained a plethora…

When the snowpocalypse ends in Washington, and political hot air thaws the frozen streets, expect to see mules and elephants parade in bipartisan togetherness — at least in one area. The party of Lincoln and the party of tea could well agree with the following words of President Obama on the urgency of fiscal responsibility…

Immigration policies at today’s USCIS may change in a flash. They can be announced and then, without forewarning or explanation, withdrawn in the milliseconds it takes for the agency’s webmaster at www.uscis.gov to push the upload and delete buttons. At times they are as reliable and ephemeral as the inducements of a carnival barker. Take…

I’ve not always seen eye to eye with AILA — the American Immigration Lawyers Association — although I’ve been a supportive member and active participant in its programs and initiatives for decades, and served on its Board of Governors from 1987 to 1994. At times I grow increasingly dispirited as the interests of its many…

The week’s news dealt a body-blow to the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform, as if the movement to fix our broken immigration laws were blind-sided in a collision with a former pinup driving a pickup — which it was. With the election of new Massachusetts Senator, Scott Brown, to take the seat of the late…

For those of us in advanced stages of decrepitude who still remember what it was like to practice immigration law before the advent of broadband and universal Web access, the immigration process was much simpler then. Unlike today (with the e-publication of new nonbinding “policies” posted on www.uscis.gov as press releases, FAQs and agency memoranda)…