Welcome to the Jones Casado, LLP blog

Welcome to the Jones Casado, LLP blog. We hope that you will come to regard our blog as an informative source of information regarding US immigration law and policy. We will keep the blog updated with important developments and provide illustrative examples, using individual case studies, of how the US immigration system works in practice.

Nearly two months into the Obama administration, the President has publicly addressed a wide array of issues, from Afghanistan to job creation to health care reform. Conspicuously absent from the president's dialogue thus far is immigration reform. Both sides of the immigration divide agree that the status quo is in urgent need of reform. Now the question is will President Obama push for that reform and, if so, in what form?

Even in the waning days of the Bush administration rumors circulated of a compromise bill aimed at appeasing both sides of the debate. On the one hand, the plan would provide for some form of legalization for many of the millions - by some accounts as many as 20 million - people unlawfully present in the country. This legalization would be balanced with a significant tightening of our porous Mexican border and intensified enforcement of the all but ignored laws prohibiting the employment of unlawful aliens.

Some inside the Department of Homeland Security have told us that this basic outline for reform is a fait accompli lacking only the details and allocation of resources. Yet at the same time, the country is troubled by what some say is the worst economy since the Great Depression, making any kind of legalization a tough sell both in Congress and the public square. Like so many other issues this administration inherited, there is no easy solution for immigration reform.

Nevertheless, the issue of immigration reform is certain to again become a hotly contested national debate. We will follow this issue closely and keep our readers updated regarding any developments we learn of.