Two Ways President Obama Could Act On Immigration

Sometime before the end of summer, President Obama is expected to take executive action to address the nation's broken immigration system.

The president's decision has in some ways been years in the making. It is built on his own action two years ago to defer deportation for so-called Dreamers — young people brought to the country illegally as children. And it is built on congressional failure to pass a sweeping immigration overhaul, a DREAM act or even an emergency funding measure to deal with all the unaccompanied children arriving at the border.

Read full story from NPR

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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us

LA Times: White House Pursuing Plan to Expand Immigrant Rights

The Los Angeles Times reports that as President Obama deals with the crisis of immigrant children arriving at the southwest border, White House officials are laying the groundwork for a large-scale expansion of immigrant rights that would come by executive action by the end of the summer. Officials signaled strongly that President Obama's move could shield large numbers of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us

Immigration Court in Orlando, Florida Continues to Recognize Syrian Christians' Fear of Persecution

On July 28, 2014, the Immigration Court in Orlando, Florida, granted asylum relief to another Syrian national represented by Silvia Manzanero, Esq,  after finding that he had a well-founded fear of persecution on account of his Christian faith.

Manzanero’s client had fled Syria after he was kidnapped by a group of armed individuals, who, after several verbal death threats, dragged him out of his placed of employment, blindfolded him, tied his hands behind his back, and drove him to an unknown location where he was kept by the captors for four days, tied to a chair, and given virtually no food or water.  The captors continuously made derogatory comments about the Respondent’s Christian religion and clearly indicated that his religion was the reason for his kidnapping.  .  Although the Respondent reported his ordeal to the local police, he received no protection nor was the kidnapping investigated. 

Upon acknowledging that acts of persecution of the Syrian Christian minority were thoroughly documented in the case, the Immigration Court found in favor of Manzanero’s client.   

This decision came after the Immigration Court in Orlando granted asylum relief to another of David F. Vedder, P.A.’s clients, also a Syrian national of Christian faith represented by attorney Manzanero, on July 22, 2014.   

These grants of relief are not surprising.  The armed conflict that began with the pro-democracy demonstrations in March 2011 has thus far claimed the lives of over 160,000 Syrians.[1] Of the country’s pre-war population of about 22 million people, over 2 million have sought refuge outside the country, while more than 6.5 million Syrians have been internally displaced.[2] 

Syrian Christians, in particular, have become the target of both extreme factions of the opposition and the Syrian government forces.  In areas controlled by the opposition, kidnappings of Syrian Christians are on the rise.  Similarly, Syrian Christians are being forced to join the rebel groups, flee their homes, or face death.[3]  Likewise, The Syrian government has engaged in attacks against Christians and other minorities in what has been interpreted as an attempt to “bolster sectarianism”.[4]

Attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. appreciate the fact that Immigration Courts are recognizing that Syrian Christians have a reasonable fear of persecution and encourage anyone with a meritorious claim to seek the protections guaranteed to them under U.S. immigration laws.

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[1] Anne Barnard, “Syria Death Toll Reported to Rise By 10,000 in Less Than 2 Months” The New York Times, May 20, 2014.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/20/world/middleeast/syria.html?_r=0  (last accessed, 07/30/2014).

[2] “2014 UNHCR country operations profile - Syrian Arab Republic” http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e486a76.html last accessed, (07/30/2014).

[3] Daniel Brode et al., “Syria’s Threatened Christians”, New York Times, June 28, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/opinion/syrias-threatened-christians.html  (last accessed 07/30/2014); Jamal Halaby,” Syrian Rebels Seek Control of Christian Village”, Associated Press, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/syria-al-qaida-rebels-control-christian-village (last accessed 07/30/2014); “Syria Crisis: ISIS Imposes Rules on Christians in Raqqa”, BBC,  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26366197  (last accessed 07/30/2014); Washington Post, 145.  “Islamic State Declaration Could Lead to Schism” Associated Press, June 30, 2014. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/al-qaida-splinter-declares-new-islamic-caliphate (last accessed 07/30/2014.)

[4] Jen Psaki, Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State, “Christians Under Threat in Syria, March 3, 2014, http://m.state.gov/md222802.htm. (last accessed 07/30/2014.), International Religious Freedom Report for 2012, U.S. Department of State, Human Rights and Labor, www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/rpt/.

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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us

White House pursuing plan to expand immigrant rights

Even as President Obama grapples with the crisis of immigrant children arriving at the Southwest border, White House officials are laying the groundwork for a large-scale expansion of immigrant rights that would come by executive action within weeks.

Officials signaled strongly Friday that Obama's move would shield from deportation large numbers of immigrants living in the country illegally, as advocacy groups have demanded.

Read more from LA Times
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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us

U.S. Adjusts Court Flow to Meet Rise in Migrants

As part of the administration’s efforts to deter the current surge of illegal Central American migrants, the nation’s immigration courts will make a major shift in priorities to place unaccompanied minors and families with children first in line to go before immigration judges, Justice Department officials said.

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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us

Obama readies executive action on immigration

The Washington Post reports that President Obama is preparing to announce new measures that would potentially allow millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation. Ideas under consideration could include temporary relief for law-abiding undocumented immigrants who are closely related to U.S. citizens or those who have lived in the country a certain number of years—a population that advocates say could reach as high as 5 million. Read this story

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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us

U.S. Adjusts Court Flow to Meet Rise in Migrants

As part of the administration’s efforts to deter the current surge of illegal Central American migrants, the nation’s immigration courts will make a major shift in priorities to place unaccompanied minors and families with children first in line to go before immigration judges, Justice Department officials said Tuesday.

Under the new procedures, those migrants could have their cases resolved and be deported within months, instead of the two or three years those cases often take in the overburdened courts.

Read more from The New York Times
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Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, immigration attorneys at David F. Vedder, P.A. have substantial experience and proven ability to handle matters at all levels of complexity. To request an initial consultation or more information on our firm's range of services, call 386-274-0044, or email info@TheImmigrationFirm.us