Immigration Law
What is immigration law?
Simplicity: Immigration law defines who can stay and who must go!
Immigration law is the gatekeeper of our borders. Immigration law provides the framework for defining who is an alien, what status they are in (lawful or illegal), what legal rights they have, and what they're duties and obligations are.
It sets the stage for benefits for those who qualify and provides the foundation for handling those who do not. Immigration Law also determines the circumstances which warrant the removal of benefits given,
Immigration Law: directly linked
to national security
More than possibly any other area of law, Immigration law is unseverably linked to national security. This fact makes this area of law more complex and unique. This was the express purpose of placing all areas of immigration under one department, The Department of Homeland Security.
Lawyers who practice in civil or criminal matters may never encounter a case that specifically involves an issue of national security unless a person who is here illegally commits a crime or gets sued. Laws governing civil and criminal matters generally are stable with very little major changes from year to year. 9/11 did not change laws concerning theft, traffic violations, divorcee, etc... It changed how law enforcement approaches their work, but it did not change what happens inside the court house concerning common civil matters and common criminal matters. 9/11 did change immigration.
Immigration is a very fluid matter and as such can be subject to drastic change as situations develop. We would hope that we would never suffer another terroist attack on this soil, but the reality is we live in a dangerous world. Another attack could send another wave of sweeping change to immigration.
Patriot Act II
The Patriot Act forever changed the land scape of immigration. What agencies were able to do in the past or more pointedly unable to do was completely changed. This has directly impacted immigration and how cases are analyzed and handled.