On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced his “immigration accountability executive action.” This program includes a number of changes to the immigration system. One central change is to provide temporary relief for the parents of U.S. Citizens and lawful permanent residents. The President created this change, referred to as Deferred Action for Parents (DAP), in…
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The Potential Repeal of Adminstrative Legitimation in Georgia
Local Adoption Law Potential Changes and Challenges: The Georgia Commission on Child Support has proposed legislation to repeal administrative legitimation. Background: Effective July 1, 2008, the Georgia legislature enacted SB 88, which included language that created a new code section O.C.G.A. § 19-7-21.1 dealing with administrative legitimation. This law enabled birth fathers of…
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GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, POOR, HUDDLED MASSES AND WE WILL EXPEDITE THEIR RETURN TO DANGER?
A few weeks ago my husband and I took our children to New York City to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time. As an immigration attorney, I was especially proud to provide for my children the awe-inspiring experience of seeing this beacon of hope in person. I was honored to share the…
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USCIS Interim Memorandum Regarding Requirements for Domestic Adoptions of Children from Hague Adoption Convention Countries
USCIS has issued a new interim memorandum pertaining to the requirements for domestic adoptions of children from Hague Adoption Convention Countries. This memorandum greatly changes the protocol of local adoption courts or attorney to request a determination from the Central Authorities of children’s countries of origin to issue determinations of the children's’ habitual residency. If…
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Immigration: Comprehensive Reform vs. Piecemeal Reform
Advocates for comprehensive immigration reform are still going strong in the fight for passing one bill that would completely revamp our immigration system and deal, on a global basis, with border security, employment immigration, a path to citizenship for the Dreamers[1]and a way to handle the 11 million undocumented people currently living in the United…
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Additional Commentary to Margaret Stock’s Recent Blog Post: “Sessions amendment would harm military families.”
Additional Commentary to Margaret Stock’s Recent Blog Post: “Sessions’ amendment would harm military families” Margaret Stock, a renowned immigration attorney and retired Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army, wrote a blog post Monday[1]pointing out that one of the proposed amendments by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to the immigration reform bill written by the “Gang of…
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Open Adoption: Georgia passes Post-Adoption Contact Agreement Legislation
Open Adoption: Georgia passes Post-Adoption Contact Agreement Legislation History: Closed Adoption In modern day America, most adoptions are now open adoptions. Open adoption means that prospective adoptive parents have some level of contact or knowledge of the birth parents and vice-versa. Contrary to popular belief, it does not have to mean visitation. Instead, it may…
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