Jersey City Immigration and Naturalization Law Blog

The United Nations office of the High Commissioner for Refugees suggested two years ago that gang violence should be included among the conditions countries consider in order to grant immigrants asylum. U.S. asylum law protects immigrants who belong to an ostracized social group, but no legal precedent exists for those who are afraid of being forced to join one. After an undocumented immigrant from Honduras was deported from the U.S. and murdered in his native country, some legal analysts believe American asylum law deserves an update.

A Jersey City family hired a lawyer to seek "posthumous asylum" for a relative who came to the U.S. alone and illegally at age 17. The teen asked for asylum, citing fear of pressure and threats to join a gang. The application was denied in 2010 and the teenager was deported.

A Lebanese immigrant, who arrived in Jersey City over two decades ago and helped New Jersey State Police crack a murder case, is being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The 44-year-old is in prison in Newark, awaiting a deportation hearing.

The immigrant came to the U.S. legally in 1989 on a visa and later married a U.S. citizen. The marriage failed and a final divorce decree is pending. The long-time U.S. resident plans to remarry a woman he met four years ago. His fiancée is an American citizen who is working toward the Lebanese immigrant's release.

The inconsistency of the enforcement of U.S. immigration rules for law-abiding, undocumented immigrants has unsettled young foreign-born residents. Many are sons and daughters of immigrants who entered the country, but never achieved legal immigration status.

Some New Jersey residents may be interested to hear about a federal directive ordered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to re-prioritize deportation policies earlier this year. Immigrants with criminal pasts became the focus of deportation investigations. Critics have hammered the policy, saying enforcers' compliance is irregular and the solution is only temporary.

Immigration laws have been a hot topic not only here in New Jersey but throughout the United States over the past year. Of particular legislative debate has been how do deal with visas of foreign born individuals who marry U.S. residents.

One recent story highlights a couple who married last year. She is an American citizen and he, a Jamaican national. They are both culturally and generationally different. The woman is 15-years-older than her husband, Caucasian and Jewish. Her husband is black and Christian. Their marriage is a melting pot of rich diversity.