Discussion Points for Punto Legal –November 13, 2019
1. New Spanish-speaking criminal defense lawyer.
We have a new Spanish-speaking criminal defense abodgado. His name is Brian Roche. Brian is fluent in Spanish. He has seen a lot of criminal cases as a public defender in Denver. And he served as prosecutor in Eagle County. Working as a prosecutor actually makes you a better defense lawyer. Now you can hire a lawyer who is ready to defend you and explain everything to you in Spanish.
2. DACA.
As many of you know, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the DACA case yesterday. The name of the case, by the way, is Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California. Over 300 big organizations, such as Microsoft and major universities, filed papers on behalf of DACA. But, the consensus is the Supreme Court’s 5-man, conservative majority will allow the Trump Administration to end DACA. The case is really hard to discuss the Court and the lawyers framed the case in terms of legal concepts that regular people just don’t think about. But, if you have any questions about the legal arguments, I will try to answer them .
Now here are some practical take-aways from the DACA argument.
First, the decision could come out in as little as two months; or it could come out on June 30, 2020 when the Supreme Court’s term ends. Then the Trump Administration can announce that DACA is done.
Second, if you apply to renew your DACA before the decision comes out, you should get DACA for another two years.
Third, DACA started out as a bridge to a DREAM Act, but no DREAM Act crossed the bridge. It will take an election that sweeps Republicans from power in the White House and Senate to get a DREAM Act.
3. Immigration Service Fee Increase.
The Trump administration last Friday proposed increasing the cost of applying for U.S. citizenship and a marriage-based green card. Under the new proposal, fees for citizenship would increase by more than 80%, from $725 to $1,170. For marriage-based green cards filed within the United States-that is, for adjustment of status–application fees would increase by 56%, from $1,760 to $2,750. The fee increases will take effect in early 2020. Have any of you gotten the feeling that the Trump Administration does not like immigrants?
If you believe you can fix your papers because of a marriage or a citizen child turning 21 and want to avoid the fee increases, come see us soon.
4. In spite of
the Trump Administration’s attacks on immigrants and the immigration system, the ordinary statutory processes are still working. Immigrants are fixing their papers in Denver, Grand Junction, and Ciudad Juarez, and we are helping them.
