The Law Offices of Patrick Kolasinski

Terrible news for detained immigrants out of the Supreme Court today. For the time being, at least, many classes of immigrants are now subject to indefinite detention with no review, meaning that people in immigration proceedings can be held effectively forever without a chance for bond. This is bad for immigrants, but will also result in greater headaches for the immigration court and even ICE, as bed space that would have otherwise been freed will now fill up. All in all, a terrible bit of news for everyone involved. http://trib.in/2os2pXp

Great News from the Supreme Court today - the DACA injunctions are staying in place a bit longer! If you have ever had DACA, now is a good time to renew. Even (especially) if your DACA status is expired! We’ve had confirmation that USCIS is allowing people to renew DACA up to one year before it expires, too. That means that you should renew if your DACA status expires any time this year. There’s no way to know how long the injunctions will stay in place, so don’t wait. http://bit.ly/2F6GgY9

There are somewhat-confirmed reports of ICE conducting raids across NorCal this weekend, including Atwater. If your family or friends are detained by ICE, remind them to No Firme Nada - Don’t Sign Anything, and reach out to an immigration attorney in your area right away. If you’re home and ICE knocks on your door, don’t open the door. Call an attorney, and wait until ICE leaves. If they have a warrant, they’ll enter anyway. If they don’t, they’ll leave. If you think ICE is... looking for you, call an attorney so we can check on it. There are usually options before you’re picked up. Whatever you do, ¡No Firme Nada! Don’t Sign Anything! http://bit.ly/2EWb8XU

UPDATED: After reviewing more details about this new order, it is clear that new DACA filings (for people who never filed before) are still not allowed. But if you had DACA and it expired, you should renew ASAP. - This is breaking news, and still developing, but the window may be short, so we’re putting this out there. At first read, it sounds like full DACA is being restored, at least temporarily. If you have never applied for DACA, but are eligible (or think you might be) ...you should contact an immigration attorney or trusted immigration non-profit (I.e El Concillio) NOW. Ok, fine, it’s almost 8pm and nobody will answer the phone. But call first thing in the morning. We will be posting more as we get a chance to dig through this case.

The immigration reform proposals announced today are calling for a major change in who is allowed to immigrate. If you haven't filed an application for a qualifying parent, child, or sibling yet, now is the time. Some or all of those categories are likely to be eliminated in the coming months. http://cnn.it/2H9gela

There is a significant change in progress that looks like it will affect those who want to immigrate to the U.S. through consular processing abroad. While the change is a detailed, technical, and very policy-wonk-centric thing, it’s impacts are anything but that. If implemented fully, this change will make it dramatically different for immigrants from any country to come to the United States, and for those who are already here to change their status using the most common legal path available. I’ll have a post up soon that goes into detail.

My commentary on the news that the end of #DACA has been blocked. Please feel free to share broadly, especially if you have friends or followers who might be affected.

A federal court just blocked the end of DACA. The order is temporary, as the litigation is going to go on for a while. There are things that the Trump administration can do to overcome the court's reasoning, at least temporarily. But the important news is that, for now, DACA has been re-activated. If you, or someone you know, decided not to renew DACA because it was ending, or if you had a renewal application denied, call an immigration attorney immediately to see if you are ...covered by the court order. You will, most likely, be able to renew your DACA status, even if it has already expired. The core part of the court's order is here: "For the foregoing reasons, defendants ARE HEREBY ORDERED AND ENJOINED, pending final judgment herein or other order, to maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis on the same terms and conditions as were in effect before the rescission on September 5, 2017, including allowing DACA enrollees to renew their enrollments, with the exceptions (1) that new applications from applicants who have never before received deferred action need not be processed; (2) that the advance parole feature need not be continued for the time being for anyone; and (3) that defendants may take administrative steps to make sure fair discretion is exercised on an individualized basis for each renewal application."

DHS just announced the end of TPS for El Salvador. Thankfully, we were given a long lead time on termination - 18 months. But this doesn't mean you should delay. If you're a current Salvadorean TPS beneficiary, you should contact your immigration attorney as soon as possible. There may be options, especially here on the West Coast. If you have friends or family who are worried about what the end of TPS means for them, please have them call their immigration attorney sooner, rather than later. http://bit.ly/2mdYlIW

Another great win at 100 Montgomery Street for a wonderful family! I’m honored to be able to help so many great people work their way through the immigration and justice systems.

We're honored to volunteer as Stanislaus County's drop off location for relief supplies heading to Puerto Rico! You can help! It's quite simple - grab a shoebox, fill it with supplies from the list, label the box with who it is appropriate for (Male, Female, Child, Teen, Adult), and bring it by our office. We're taking care of the logistics of getting the shoebox to PR and distributed! There's a lot of suffering going on, and we often feel powerless to do anything, but not this time! Together, we can show the world how generous and caring NorCal is, and bring a bit of light to those suffering through one of the worst natural disasters to hit the United States.

Governor Brown has signed SB54. What does that mean for California? Are we really a "Sanctuary State"? Read below for details! http://bit.ly/2wAi9tv The short version: Governor Brown has signed SB 54, which officially titled "Law enforcement: sharing data," but everyone seems to be calling it the "Sanctuary State" law. SB 54 places significant restrictions on the interactions between state law enforcement agencies and Federal immigration agencies. It does NOT, however, elimi...nate these interactions, and does not somehow protect all immigrants in California from "La Migra" (ICE). What SB 54 does do: SB 54 expands on the protections started by the Trust, Truth, and California Values Acts. Simply put, it removes local law enforcement officers' discretionary ability to cooperate with Federal immigration agents against an immigrant has a sufficiently serious criminal history. "Cooperation" is the key, as this is a much broader ban than the one created under the three previous Acts. Ok, so what does that mean?: Well, basically, SB 54 makes it unlawful for local law enforcement to call ICE, talk to ICE, share information with ICE, or cooperate in any other way with ICE with regard to vast majority of immigrants in our state. Actions such as our District Attorney's current policy of regularly calling ICE to check on the immigration status of a defendant are now illegal (well, mostly - see below). There's a catch, isn't there?: Of course! It's a law, so there's a catch. There are still things that law enforcement can do. For example, local law enforcement can still investigate cases of unlawful re-entry into the U.S. after a deportation, so long as the discovery of that crime comes up as part of an unrelated investigation. Law enforcement agencies can still provide records, information, and access to jail facilities and inmates at ICE's request. They can also still participate in joint task forces with ICE, although the scope of those task forces are more limited than they used to be. Anything else?: Of course! This is a major change to California law. There's definitely more. For starters, local sheriffs can no longer start new contracts for the detention of immigration detainees in local jails (although there are exceptions to this ban). Also, the Attorney General has just under one year (until 10/1/2018) to create a set of model policies for local agencies to use in dealing with this new legal landscape. It is very likely that those policies will begin to trickle out much sooner, as law enforcement agencies scramble to comply with and make sense of the new guidelines. If you're legally minded, you can read the full text of the bill here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/fa/billTextClient.xhtml