Venezuela’s Land Redistribution is Taking a Very Human Toll

As Chavez continues to eviscerate the Venezuelan economy through corruption and mismanagement, the expropriation of private lands has remained somewhat on the back burner in terms of topics of discussion between my clients and me.  While I have had more than one client whose farms have been sto...

Jose E. Latour Sep 10, 2010

Mexico’s Drug Wars Making My Phone Ring

When I was a  young Vice Consul in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, it was hardly paradise.  Juarez was a big, booming desert town characterized by endless maquiladora factories, blistering heat, and a vast income gap between the very rich who lived behind guard entrances in plush mansions and the v...

Jose E. Latour Aug 21, 2010

Obama Socks it to U.S. H-1B and L Visa Employers

Justwhen I think I’m starting to figure out this very bright man for whom I votedas President, another dumb move from the Obama White House.  Last week, he signed into law a so-called “borderenforcement” bill which I had assumed was part and parcel of the ongoingresponse to what Arizona started...

Jose E. Latour Aug 18, 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