Charles M. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Many foreign nationals who live in the U.S. illegally have been hoping for an amnesty. Although not technically an amnesty like the one we had in the 1980’s because this one would require more than proving that you were in the U.S. before a certain date, nonetheless it would have provided a “path to citizenship” for the estimated  11-14 million illegal aliens residing in the U.S. Fixing our broken immigration system was President Obama’s  third highest priority and since he is already dealing with health care reform and the economy many hoped this would be the next major issue his administration would tackle. Many people were optimistic since he had a democratic Senate and House of Representatives to support the president who is a member of the same political party. On the other hand, immigration reform has always been a very sensitive political issue and when combined with the terrible economy we are all facing, the chance of an immediate resolution  was poor at best. With the Republicans now controlling the House of Representatives, I unfortunately see very little hope that we will have Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the near future.

Furthermore I see the opposite happening. With Republicans taking control of more governorships there will probably be more efforts to pass the same types of tough laws that Arizona recently tried to enact. With the House now under Republican control,   Representative Zoe Lofgren of California will lose her position as the House immigration subcommittee chairperson and she will probably be replaced by Representative Steve King of Iowa. This will result in a new leadership pushing a different type of immigration agenda. It is likely to be consistent with the “Pledge to America” that was issued by the Republican party in September wherein there was emphasis on border enforcement, immigration law enforcement and visa security and no real proposals to legale the status of millions of undocumented foreign nationals.

Perhaps the only positive thing that came out of the election is the apparent strength of the Latino bloc as demonstrated by several elections which actually turned on their support for the democratic candidate. Having seen this, some politicians may now try to court these Latino voters by adjusting their views on  some positive changes we need in our immigration laws.

In summary, all is not lost but things are not looking good. If an illegal alien has been holding off on filing any papers to correct their status because the “amnesty” would have been cheaper and quicker, they should reconsider their strategy. We strongly recommend everyone concerned about this issue to consult with an experienced immigration attorney to see if there is something than can be done now rather than waiting for an amnesty that may never happen. With increased enforcement likely to happen, no one should have the sense that they can simply wait till the inevitable amnesty is declared.  

For more than 30 years, the law firm of Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss has been assisting people with immigration, green card or visa issues. For more information on how our immigration attorneys in NY can help, please call us at 212-643-6400, email us online, or visit our office at 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1020, New York, NY 10122.