Immigration lawyer, Kathryn N. Karam, P.C., was recently invited to talk to Harris County, Constable Alan Rosen about Immigration and crime. This short chat also covers why it's important to report crimes if you are undocumented and what happens if an undocumented person reports a crime.  Here's the link to the video interview on Facebook. Her talk begins about 39 minutes into the show. Below you will find the transcript of the video interview with some helpful topic titles to help you find information quickly. 

 ¿Cómo entro usted a los Estados Unidos? Como abogado de inmigración en Houston todos los días hablo con personas que quieren aplicar para obtener la residencia permanente, muchos de estos basados en relaciones familiares. Como abogado Siempre quiero obtener toda la información específica que pueda, para saber la mejor manera de presentar un caso.

Esto siempre incluye entender como una persona llego a los Estados Unidos. Algunas veces las personas explican que usaron una visa o una tarjeta de paso fronterizo. Otras veces nos cuentan que un coyote los entro de manera ilegal. Otras veces solo dicen “yo entre ilegal.”

2017 Immigration News: Enforcement, Vetting, and a Ray of Hope.  2017 was a year packed with Immigration News. Donald Trump made immigration a major focus of his first year in office, pushing for a border wall even if Mexico doesn’t pay for it as he’d stated during his campaign, issuing instructions to the  Department of Homeland Security to implement measures to restrict legal immigration, step up enforcement measures at the border and the interior against all undocumented immigrants, and directing the Department of State and DHS to more rigorously vet visa applicants and others applying for U.S. immigration benefits.

What do I do if ICE Comes to my Door? As an Immigration lawyer in Houston, I know this question has been on the minds of many immigrants. Over the last few weeks, you may have seen news stories or social media posts about ICE officers coming to homes and even motels to try to arrest someone they believe is living there. Sometimes the person they want to arrest has never been in immigration court and has no criminal record.

What do I do if I have a deportation order?  If you have a deportation order but you haven’t left the United States, you might feel like you're in danger everywhere you go. Really, you are – there is a threat that you could be taken into ICE custody and physically removed. If you've said to yourself, I Was Ordered Deported, but I'm Still in the US and wondered what you should do, you're right to be concerned.  

As an immigration lawyer in Houston, I often get questions about whether a person’s visa application will be denied. Sometimes the questions are legitimate. One common example is that people want to know if applying for a job or attending a job interview without a work visa is acceptable, and if a subsequent application for a work visa will be affected by this. Generally, the answer is “no,” but we strongly recommend that anyone coming for interviews or to apply for jobs be prepared to be questioned about it at the port of entry.

Una salida de un matrimonio Abusivo

Como abogada de inmigración en Houston, una de mis primeras clientes, Janna, vino a verme sobre su estatus migratorio. Ella tenía una sonrisa nerviosa, y me dijo que estaba casada con un ciudadano de los Estados Unidos. Le pregunté por qué él no estaba en la cita con ella. Lentamente comenzó a explicar que su matrimonio tenía problemas. Me dijo que él ha veces era muy celoso, me dijo que antes de casarse, ellos habían terminado su relación un par de veces.

As an Immigration lawyer in Houston, I follow Texas legislative activity closely. The right to determine who is allowed to come in and out of the United States is generally considered an issue in the control of the federal government. But in recent years, there have been several state laws introduced that are designed to give power to the state of Texas to enforce immigration laws. In 2017, the Texas legislature passed a new law called Senate Bill 4 ("Texas SB4"). SB4 has raised concern in immigrant communities, and several Texas cities have sued the State of Texas to try to stop it from going into effect.

Tengo una orden de deportación pero todavía estoy en los EEUU.

Mucha gente leo la historia de Lizandro Claros Salavia de 19 años y su hermano Diego de 22 años. Los dos hermanos vinieron a los Estados Unidos en el 2009 sin autorización, y los ordenaron ser deportados. Ellos habían solicitado las estancias de remoción- básicamente pidiendo permiso discrecional para permanecer en los Estados Unidos que se da por 1-2 años a la vez.