evitably

This was big news in the local immigration law community this week... heard the rumor by email and I was actually on a panel a few hours later with Lawrence's (awesome) new state rep Juana Matias who confirmed early details.

A "removal" order is just the legal name for an order of deportation. Showing up to an immigration office with an old deportation order over your head is kind of like showing up to a courthouse with an old outstanding warrant... there's always a chance you'll be held. As with warrants, though, there are quite a few people out there living their lives who do not know or understand that they have these orders--which typically come either from being caught at the border and immediately returned, or from missing a scheduled immigration court hearing.

But just for perspective, this was a totally routine practice before Obama. It's only making news now because (1) it's been more than eight years since it was done anywhere and (2) Trump.

The bigger question for me is how the local USCIS district director (who is known to be firmly against allowing ICE to enforce on USCIS property) allowed (or was made to allow) this to happen.

I will say that immigration lawyers (myself included) got complacent under Obama. Although his administration was far from soft on deportations, it ended these kinds of inhumane enforcement tactics. Walking a client with an old order into a USCIS interview (always risky and never advised) is now only one of many chances that we can absolutely no longer afford to take.

This doesn't seem to be a popular answer whenever anyone asks me this... but my first response is that if you are an attorney who does not practice immigration law, there is a much better chance that you are earning a decent living and could be in a position to help to fund the work of dedicated immigration attorneys and advocates. Consider becoming not just a donor, but a regular sustainer of a local or national organization (other than the ACLU, which I love but is doing just fine without you) which does immigration-specific work that you believe in.

I would recommend one of the following:

The Student Immigrant Movement (full disclosure: I'm on the board), which is helping DREAMers organize to protect DACA and one another: http://www.simforus.org

Kids in Need of Defense provides attorneys for minors in deportation proceedings who are eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile status (a rare path to citizenship with several moving parts that most of us can't afford to do in full pro bono): http://www.supportkind.org

The National Immigration Law Center (http://nilc.org) was on the front lines of Drumpf's travel ban and has provided invaluable litigation support and resources for attorneys around the country.

Here in MA, the PAIR Project (pairproject.org) helps to set interested attorneys up with pro bono immigration cases while providing basic training and support for them. If you want to help, you may have a similar organization in your area that could use your time, money, and/or talents.

Generally: There are a few other factors I'd have to know about, but in most cases anywhere from 6-12 months. And anyone who immigrates to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident is immediately authorized to work regardless of occupation.

Marriage (together with visa petitions for minor children and adult parents) will always be the fastest and simplest way to immigrate. I've never heard of a single proposal to limit or alter that process.

A few things before I answer the question directly:

I really don't like money, so I'm in the right practice area for that.

It's very hard for me to tell someone who is legitimately in fear for their lives (as most of my clients are) that they will have to spend most of their extra earnings on my bills for the next several years. So I don't.

Remember that there is no appointed counsel in the immigration court, and no buckets of grant money for well-meaning attorneys who want to do asylum and deportation defense work. We don't get paid unless our clients pay us. (This is why almost all immigration attorneys work for private for-profit entities.)

I voluntarily decided at the beginning of my practice to set out to do things "low bono," significantly lower (typically at least 30-40%, often much less) than my colleagues in the Boston area so that I could serve the local Central American population who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a lawyer. But I also believe in trying to pay my exceptionally talented staff at least slightly (if not more) above market wages, so there's a natural push/pull there.

Let's start with what I probably "should" be making as someone who has been a licensed attorney working full-time in a specialized practice area for more than eleven years and running a three-attorney practice for seven: probably well over $250,000 gross in individual income. (Although TBQH if you are making that much as an immigration attorney who specializes in asylum and/or removal defense work I'm sorry to say that you're doing it wrong. Come at me.)

But, no. I worked extra hard in 2015 (virtually nonstop, and including my course at Northeastern) and my total income was about $70,000--my highest ever, more than twice as much as I made in any year of my first seven as an attorney. (And TBH I honestly feel some guilt even about making that much.) I haven't filed my 2016 returns yet, but I expect it will be more this year. But: Boston has a significantly high cost of living and a big chunk of my extra earnings go to student loans (which I may not fully pay off for many more years), paying off debt from years of running a de facto non-profit (while still occasionally paying taxes), and reinvesting into my business in one way or another. (I buy lunch for everyone every day, for example, and do not write this off. I know, I know.)

I actual went to a counselor to try to talk through my issues and guilt around money. After giving me the usual speech about how I have to survive financially and will be unable to help anyone if I'm constantly worried about my finances and/or bankrupt, he paused and said:

"Matt, I really think you're just a socialist operating in a capitalist economy. There's no cure for that."

Something like that, I guess.

I should also add that when you are meeting with prospective lawyers, listen and watch their body language closely. Are they giving you a sales pitch and making impossible promises to try to get that retainer ("guarantees" and/or "percentages" are a bad sign), or are they giving you a straight answer--even if it's the one you don't want to hear?