Flashback: Port of Entry 2002 Thanksgiving Blog

Joey, friend of mine from many years past emailed yesterday.  He wanted to see if we could find a blog I'd written Thanksgiving week 2002 in my prior "before the word 'blog'" existed online daily posting, Port of Entry.  Well, I've been meaning to get the old ...

Jose E. Latour Nov 23, 2010

The Dynamics of U.S. Birthright

Immigration is the topic du jour yet again today and I wanted to share some thoughts.  This morning's Miami Herald blasts several Republicans who are proposing the elimination of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.  Mea...

Jose E. Latour Aug 12, 2010

Et tu, Bill? Florida’s Politicking Attorney General McCollum Switch Hits on Immigration

Apparently there is an epidemic of constitutional amnesia/shameless pandering affecting state Attorneys General throughout the country.  As I told you last week, first it was Virginia State Attorney Cuccinelli opining that local law enforcement officerscan arrest those they suspect of committin...

Jose E. Latour Aug 11, 2010

ICE Not Deporting “Dreamers”

Although the Dream Act, which will offer legal status to some 700,000 foreign-born illegal aliens who entered the U.S. Before the age of 16, remains a dream, an unofficial policy change has apparently been keeping ICE from deporting those who would qualify. Check out the New York Times article: http...

Jose E. Latour Aug 08, 2010

Newly Discovered Press Coverage…about US!

Melissa and I worked, along with other immigration attorneys with whom we worked, spent some time at the University of Miami teaching law students how to prepare Haitian TPS forms; it was in the aftermath of the earthquake and UM's law school was scrambling to do what they could to help those a...

Jose E. Latour Jul 29, 2010

From Earthquake to Red Tape

When the earthquake hit Haiti, the world responded...and the U.S. responded admirably, in many ways.  The efforts to help the injured and save lives has focused on the South Florida community.  After so many years of disparate treatment between Cuban and Haitian refugees, it has been encou...

Jose E. Latour Jul 12, 2010

CIS? NIMBA…

As I sat at the opening session of the American ImmigrationLawyers Association (AILA) National Convention on Thursday morning, I felt arekindling of the fire I felt when I began immigration practice.  David Leopold, AILA’s newly-installedpresident, spoke eloquently about our responsibilities as...

Jose E. Latour Jul 05, 2010

AILA National Convention Kicks Off

The 2010 National AILA seminar began at the Gaylord Convention Center in Washington, D.C's National Harbor this morning with an inspired opening by immediate past AILA president Charles Kuck and a passionate call for comprehensive immigration reform (CIS), the subject of President Obama's speech at ...

Jose E. Latour Jul 01, 2010

Life on the Border: Another Tragic and Needless Death in Juarez, Mexico

When I arrived in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 1987 as a firsttour Foreign Service Officer, the place at which I arrived was very differentthan the war zone I visited this past December. Ciudad Juarez was already a dusty, dirty and crowded desert town andoccasional crimes made the headlines: young...

Jose E. Latour Jun 09, 2010