Marvin Law Office, PC
  • Attorney Profile
  • Services
  • Blog
  • En Español
  • Client Portal
  • Schedule your Consultation

Our blog

​Elections and Immigration

11/4/2020

 
As history has shown us, the Obama Administration was very harsh against those living in the U.S. without documents.  His administration deported more undocumented people than several prior administrations combined by a significant number and he was very strict with people trying to work without papers.  Obama was the creator of the I-9 or “E-Verify” process punishing employers of undocumented workers.  Although Obama set the tone for the Trump Administration, no one could have predicted the regular and systematic attacks on virtually all immigration that came into being under the leadership of President Trump. 
 
Without a doubt, the threat to immigration has never been higher than today and it continues to be a serious concern to immigration advocates and businesses alike.  I have written many articles over the years about the changes to immigration law, but the last year has seen so many changes that it staggers the mind and it is very difficult to stay on top of what the current policy is.  This is especially true because laws and policies have been regularly blocked, unblocked, reversed, reinstated, eliminated and hidden from the public. 
 
So, what can we expect from the results of the election?  First, it is important to accept the reality that the final results of the election will not be official for probably 1-2 months.  This election will prove to be the most legally contested elections in history and the process will take some time to work itself out.  We are not just dealing with irritated Republicans and Democrats, but the difficulty Covid-19 brought with the burden of counting record numbers of absentee ballots that the system was never designed to handle.  To give an idea of the timeline that the legal election process must follow, December 23rd is the deadline to provide the officially certified Electoral votes to Congress.  Then, after the holiday break, the newly elected Congress is sworn in on January 3rd with the session for counting the Electoral votes set for January 6th.  January 20th is the end of the current Presidential term and the start of the next term.
 

At the time this article was written, President Trump was behind in the election with former Vice President Biden as the front-runner.  What will it look like under Biden?  Simply put, Biden's plan is to un-do all of the damaging immigration policies that Trump put in place over the past 4 years.  Although specific plans were not discussed much during the election, his campaign website says he will focus on:  taking urgent action to undo Trump’s damage and reclaim America’s values, modernizing America’s immigration system, welcoming immigrants in our communities, reasserting America’s commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees, tackling the root causes of irregular migration and implementing effective border screening.
 
So, what does this mean for immigration if Trump wins re-election?  I do not see President Trump being any less harsh with immigration.  In fact, I fully anticipate many more policy changes and reductions in both legal immigration and the enforcement (deportations) of undocumented individuals and families surpassing the numbers under his first term.  We can also expect ongoing challenges to many business visas similar to what is happening to H1B visas including the complete elimination of certain visa types.  In addition to business visas, I believe Trump will make more direct attacks on family immigration. 
 
A couple years ago President Trump announced that it would be a priority to greatly decrease the ability of legal permanent residents and citizens to sponsor family members or what he called “chain immigration”.  Although sponsorships for spouses and children will probably not be affected too much in the future, I anticipate sponsorships for parents and siblings to be completely eliminated within the next year or so.  Because of this, we recommend everyone take advantage of the current and existing immigration processes and policies if they are able to do so.  It has always been my recommendation to my clients to move forward with any process they are eligible for instead of waiting for “things to get better in the future” and I renew that recommendation now more than ever.  

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Lee L. Marvin provides legal consulting and representation for individuals, companies and families in the areas of immigration and criminal law.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Asylum
    Children
    College
    DACA
    DAPA
    Election
    Employment Visa
    Family Law
    Immigration
    Inmigracion
    Leyes De Familia
    Marriage
    Matrimonio
    Negocios
    Small Businesses
    Tps

    RSS Feed

Picture
About us     
Contact us
​
Services
Scholarship
​Blog
Disclaimer
FAQ's
2522 Woodmeadow Dr. SE, ​Suite B
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
United States


Phone: (616) 805-3435
Business Hours:
Mon. to Thur.: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Photos used under Creative Commons from shixart1985, Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, EWULibraries, kennyrivas, Soledad_Perez, ouyangcxtx, phalinn, Robert Cheaib - Theologhia.com, willmunny, davidmulder61, Denise P.S., Phil Roeder, mariajose_, PMillera4, .v1ctor Casale., Ray_from_LA, Senado Federal, .v1ctor Casale.
  • Attorney Profile
  • Services
  • Blog
  • En Español
  • Client Portal
  • Schedule your Consultation