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Author: Joshua Bardavid, Esq.

The New York Times published an article today about the government's use of the "material support bar" in immigration proceedings. The so-called material support bar is worth discussing in depth to understand how broad the statutes defining terrorism really are. Under the Patriot Act, any person who provides "material support" to a "terrorist organization" is ineligible for any kind of legal status in the United States. On its face, few would take issue with this law. But the devil is in the details; both "material support" and "terrorist organization" are written so broadly that they can encompass almost any situation. A.  "Terrorist

In the Supreme Court's case of Demore v. Kim, the government claimed that 85% of cases before an Immigration Court "are completed in an average time of 47 days and a median of 30 days."  In that case, the Supreme Court found constitutional the statute which makes detention of some immigrants during removal proceedings mandatory (meaning that no judge has the authority to release the immigrant on bond, no matter what the circumstances).  To support its finding, the Supreme Court relied heavily on the government's statistics which supposedly showed that Immigration Court cases were completed very rapidly. Almost all people who

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who take advantage of the vulnerable and often desperate position of immigrants. Unscrupulous attorneys, people posing as attorneys, "travel agencies" (in the Chinese community), "notarios" (in the Hispanic community), and other "immigration service" places claim to be able to obtain visas and other legal status for people. More often than not, the immigrants end up spending large sums of money and not obtaining the status promised. Worse, sometimes fraudulent applications are submitted and people who would otherwise be eligible for legal status lose their opportunity and end up in deportation proceedings. With the new

What do $30,600 in campaign donations to a New Jersey county executive get you? If you’re Community Education Centers, and the county executive is Essex county chair Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr., then the answer is evidently a contract worth 8-10 million dollars annually to run an immigration "detention center" (prison, for those who are less double-speak inclined). Two recent New York Times articles have shed light on a process by which Community Education Centers won a “public bid” to build the new jail in Essex, New Jersey, by beating out approximately ZERO other competitors. Three weeks ago it was announced by Essex