Rekha Sharma-Crawford’s Post

This is it. What we fight about. A piece of the Earth, a bit of the sky, and a trickle of water. We spend our days trying to hold on to just this and what we think it all means. Gravity holds us to the ground but the weight of life feels heaviest of all. In reality, from a distance, neither we or our plights can be seen. But on the surface, we can see each other, empathize with one other, and maybe even help lift each others spirits. Do something kind today. Just one thing. It may make the difference in someone’s day or maybe just yours. 🙂

Kaya kaha? Ab samajme aaya? On June 18th President Biden announced a program to help spouses of citizens. Sharing an informational video in Hindi for those who may find it helpful! 🙏🏽

For everyone who thinks that just being married to a US citizen guarantees a path to legal status in the US, the Supreme Court today dispelled that idea once and for all. Justice Barrett delivered the majority 6-3 opinion. Justice Sotomayor penned the dissenting opinion. DOS v. MUNOZ Barrett wrote : "Like the Din plurality, we hold that a citizen does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her noncitizen spouse being admitted to the country. ... Whatever else it may stand for, Mandel does not hold that a citizen’s independent constitutional right (say, a free speech claim) gives that citizen a procedural due process right to a “facially legitimate and bona fide reason” for why someone else’s visa was denied. And Muñoz is not constitutionally entitled to one here. * * * The judgment of the Ninth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion." Justice Sotomayor countered with, "[T]he majority today chooses a broad holding on marriage over a narrow one on procedure. It holds that Muñoz’s right to marry, live with, and raise children alongside her husband entitles her to nothing when the Government excludes him from the country. ... The Government cannot banish a U. S. citizen’s spouse and give only a bare statutory citation as an excuse. By denying Muñoz the right to a factual basis for her husband’s exclusion, the majority departs from longstanding precedent and gravely undervalues the right to marriage in the immigration context. ... The majority’s failure to respect the right to marriage in this country consigns U. S. citizens to rely on the fickle grace of other countries’ immigration laws to vindicate one of the “‘basic civil rights of man’” and live alongside their spouses. ... A traveler to the United States two centuries ago reported that “‘[t]here is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is so much respected as in America.’” Obergefell, 576 U. S., at 669 (quoting 1 A. de Tocqueville, Democracy in America 309 (H. Reeve transl., rev. ed. 1900)). Today, the majority fails to live up to that centuries-old promise."

The more people know the less they will get taken advantage of. Every time something happens in the world of immigration, there is an instant outpouring of misinformation which almost always leads to people getting scammed. Please share these client flyers and help keep communities safe and informed.

Definitely needed and a great step forward to try and address the difficult and complex issues plaguing our immigration system. Congress has abandoned their duties, for now, but one day maybe they will step outside the political theater, and solve real problems for families trying to legitimately address their immigration issues.

So grateful to be elected Treasurer for the 24-25 year at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. It is such a joy to serve with such passionate, brilliant attorneys on the Executive Committee. Kelli Stump is our newly elected President, Jeff Joseph is our newly elected President-Elect, Alexis S. Axelrad is our newly elected 1st Vice President, Jacqueline Watson is our newly elected 2nd Vice President and our newest member on ExCom is Michelle Saenz-Rodriguez as our newly elected Secretary! Also blessed to have the guidance and wisdom of our immediate past President Farshad Owji and Past President Jeremy McKinney It’s going to be an amazing year! 🎉 https://lnkd.in/gGuWndhT

Happy Father’s Day! 💕🙏🏽

As the work continues to #AmendLozada and its punitive bar complaint filing requirement when raising ineffective assistance of counsel in immigration matters, the American Immigration Lawyers Association just published its April, 2024 Law Journal, including an article I co-wrote with Susan Roy, Sarah Owings, and Sui Chung. One more step forward. Grateful to AILA for leading the battle for change. Relevant pages attached but you can find the full Law Journal at https://lnkd.in/gNmKTZgk