US Immigration Laws Likely to Change Soon, Thanks to Election

US Immigration Laws Likely to Change Soon, Thanks to Election

Immigration lawyers across the US were expecting changes to the immigration laws last summer. The results would have been interesting. Many hotly debated legislation proposals were to be parked under one encompassing umbrella and dubbed Comprehensive Immigration Reform (Reform).

The reforms were considered by some to be innovative, even progressive. However, others thought the propositions were controversial and argued they had no place in an overhauled immigration system. It was put forward to widen the range of legalization mechanisms, offer temporary work programs and have more options on tap for alien children to attend colleges, etc.

The suggestions didn't stop there. They also included a makeover and expansion of the role of enforcement, increased communication between all enforcement agencies, more in the way of worksite enforcement, even better border security and patches to fix the current immigration system.

There hasn't been any Reform yet because Congress put the whole process on hold until the undecided portions of the suggested package were dealt with. In other words, it got put on hold until the results of the election are known. This means the badly needed revamping of the immigration system is now on hold and it affects millions of aliens living in the US and abroad.

Basically all the aliens that would be subject to the proposed changes are now in limbo, because nothing has been passed and nothing is actually the law. This won't change until there is some form of direction from the White House and whoever happens to be at the helm after the election. What this means for now is the old laws take precedence until something replaces them.

There is no question this Reform will happen. It's just a matter of when and how. Not knowing precisely what's in store for the future Reform makes it even more crucial to seek the advice of experienced legal counsel to draft an application or handle an appeal. Only an attorney who is familiar with the current immigration system and immigration law in general will be able to tell you how to prepare for the coming changes, and what documents you will need.