Today is a day for getting the word out about Wiggiblawg and the Wiggin & Nourie Immigration Practice Group I guess. One of my recent cases was submitted to Bender's Immigration Daily web site. It is about political asylum and the concept of "firm resettlement" in a safe third country. Judge D'Angelo and his law clerk(s) did a thorough job examining this case from all angles resulting in a 16 page written opinion in my client's favor.
To read the case:
http://drop.io/jottqrv
To see other stories on BIBdaily:
http://www.bibdaily.com/
Showing posts with label Wiggin and Nourie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wiggin and Nourie. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wiggiblawg on ILW.com
Immigration Law Weekly or ILW.com is a national resource for immigration news. I have a link to it here and even an rss feed widget. If you check this link you can see that they have published my article on why reforming immigration and having a legalization program makes sense for the country's future.
http://www.ilw.com/articles/2009,1117-drew.shtm
http://www.ilw.com/articles/2009,1117-drew.shtm
Friday, November 13, 2009
W&N Portsmouth
http://wiggin-nourie.com/about/portsmouth_office.html
Right now I plan on coming out here once or twice a month to meet with clients and prospective clients. If you live in Portsmouth, Dover, Durham, Somersworth, Rochester - wherever you live, you can call the Wiggin & Nourie Manchester office and ask for an immigration appointment in Portsmouth.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wiggiblawg Exclusive! Manchester USCIS and ICE moving!
Here is some immigration news content you can't yet get anywhere else. Google it! Bing it! I dare ya. USCIS Manchester is moving and so is ICE. It may still be a little while but USCIS is moving from 803 Canal Street in Manchester to a new building in Bedford, NH. Here is a map:
View Larger Map
The new address appears as though it will be near 182 Palomino Lane in Bedford. I will take a picture of the new building when I get a chance. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be moving to the Norris Cotton Federal Building in Manchester. This will probably happen a while down the road...but will undoubtedly happen. I hope the Immigration Court moves an Immigration Judge and a couple of Government trial attorneys into the building as well.
Anyway the Gold's Corner Plaza can go back to being an ordinary mini-mall without the high volume of visitors to US Immigration and the Department of Motor Vehicles (which has been gone a couple of years now if I remember correctly).
View Larger Map
The new address appears as though it will be near 182 Palomino Lane in Bedford. I will take a picture of the new building when I get a chance. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be moving to the Norris Cotton Federal Building in Manchester. This will probably happen a while down the road...but will undoubtedly happen. I hope the Immigration Court moves an Immigration Judge and a couple of Government trial attorneys into the building as well.
Anyway the Gold's Corner Plaza can go back to being an ordinary mini-mall without the high volume of visitors to US Immigration and the Department of Motor Vehicles (which has been gone a couple of years now if I remember correctly).
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
New Office Location in Portsmouth, NH
I am happy to announce that our new Portsmouth Office of Wiggin & Nourie, PA at One Harbour Place is up and running. Our open house was a big hit and we took many people on the grand tour of our new spaces.
Attorney Movafaghi and I (Attorney Randall Drew) will continue to work from our main offices at the Jefferson Mill in Manchester, NH. However, we are certainly interested in meeting with our Seacoast, Maine, and North Shore clients in Portsmouth for your convenience. The new offices afford us that opportunity.
If you would like to schedule to meet on one of the days we will be in Portsmouth, please call the main office number (603) 669-2211 and ask for Jennifer Mathis to book your appointment. For directions please click the following link: http://www.wiggin-nourie.com//about/portsmouth_office.html We look forward to seeing you there!
Editorial Comment on Immigration Reform
Two reasons why pragmatism must trump passion on immigration reform
Think the health care reform debate got ugly? Well maybe so, but you may also have noticed that illegal immigration already made some cameo appearances in the health care debate. The August town hall debacle was perhaps just a glimpse of what awaits in this upcoming winter of our Congressional discontent.
Having practiced immigration law in New Hampshire for over a decade now, I can attest that our national immigration system is in dire need of an overhaul. With the lingering effects of recession pumping the brakes on both legal and illegal immigration – it is a good time to tackle the problem so that we can enjoy a glorious summer of economic recovery in 2010.
The Amnesty issue
Entering the United States without admission or inspection is a crime. To be precise, it is a class B misdemeanor under federal law – or what is called a “petty offense”. But you don’t have to take my word for it, you can read U.S. v. Sanchez, 258 F.Supp.2d 650 (S.D.Tex., 2003).
In this part of the country, a good percentage of the persons who are here unlawfully actually entered the United States legally but then failed to leave when they were supposed to – this does not constitute an actual criminal offense. Most of the time, however, these matters are not handled in criminal courts at all but rather as civil matters in administrative immigration courts set up within the Department of Justice. These administrative hearings are called Removal proceedings or more commonly known as Deportation.
Everyday we as a country deport non-citizens (some of whom have lived and worked here for decades) who are married to United States citizens and who have children born and raised here. In most cases these people cannot legally return to the United States for at least ten years. This country has the right to deport non-citizens who violate the law; however, that does not mean it is always in our best interests to do so. I personally don’t believe deportation should be the only government response to a petty criminal immigration offense or a civil immigration law violation.
Other options, such as legalization after paying a fine, have been proposed – but lately these have been shouted down as an amnesty. It should be noted that there are many people who would not qualify for such an “amnesty” due to a criminal record, other previous immigration violations, obtaining government benefits through fraud, lack of a qualifying relative or lack of prospective employment, etc. Such a plan is hardly a true amnesty if there is a fine assessed for the criminal behavior, unless one considers paying a speeding ticket an act of amnesty. Rather, it is a practical way to penalize people who have violated the law but then legalize the status of those whose removal from this country would do more harm than good.
The Demographic issue
The baby boom generation is beginning to reach retirement age. The US Census Bureau estimates that in 2010 there are five people of working age (18-64) to every person of retirement age (65+). Over the next twenty years that ratio is expected to drop to three to one.
From 2010 to 2030 the total number of persons of working age is expected to grow at an average rate of less than one million persons per year. This trend does not portend well for a growth economy or for public programs dependent on payroll taxes for funding – such as Medicare and Social Security.
The United States’ current immigration policies discourage foreign students from staying in this country to work once they have graduated from U.S. colleges and universities. The number of visas made available for skilled workers has also been curtailed over the past decade. It is all the more difficult to rebound from a recession if we attract and retain an ever shrinking number of the world’s best and brightest young workers, entrepreneurs and inventors. Perhaps you noticed that a majority of the American Nobel Prize winners this year were originally from somewhere else. [insert tasteless President Obama joke here]
Given the demographic trends, however, we may have a difficult time as a country producing enough homegrown labor for even semi-skilled or unskilled jobs. Just to maintain the current ratio of workers to retirees the country would need to increase immigration and guest worker levels to approximately seven million persons per year for the next twenty years. Even if we assume that greater numbers of people will continue working past age 65 due to increased longevity and decreased 401(k) balances – the US workforce will still have to be supplemented by a far greater numbers of foreign born workers than are present today if we are to avoid escalating payroll taxes and/or ever increasing budget deficits to cover entitlement programs.
It may be difficult to picture in these times when there already more people out of work than jobs to fill – but the numbers are looming out there for anyone who cares to look. The United States must get its immigration policy back on the track of welcoming the immigrants who have always been one of the great engines of our economic growth. More (not less) new immigrants, the businesses they start, the inventions they create and the work that they perform will make or break the middle-class of this country over the next twenty years.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/files/nation/summary/np2008-t2.xls
Think the health care reform debate got ugly? Well maybe so, but you may also have noticed that illegal immigration already made some cameo appearances in the health care debate. The August town hall debacle was perhaps just a glimpse of what awaits in this upcoming winter of our Congressional discontent.
Having practiced immigration law in New Hampshire for over a decade now, I can attest that our national immigration system is in dire need of an overhaul. With the lingering effects of recession pumping the brakes on both legal and illegal immigration – it is a good time to tackle the problem so that we can enjoy a glorious summer of economic recovery in 2010.
The Amnesty issue
Entering the United States without admission or inspection is a crime. To be precise, it is a class B misdemeanor under federal law – or what is called a “petty offense”. But you don’t have to take my word for it, you can read U.S. v. Sanchez, 258 F.Supp.2d 650 (S.D.Tex., 2003).
In this part of the country, a good percentage of the persons who are here unlawfully actually entered the United States legally but then failed to leave when they were supposed to – this does not constitute an actual criminal offense. Most of the time, however, these matters are not handled in criminal courts at all but rather as civil matters in administrative immigration courts set up within the Department of Justice. These administrative hearings are called Removal proceedings or more commonly known as Deportation.
Everyday we as a country deport non-citizens (some of whom have lived and worked here for decades) who are married to United States citizens and who have children born and raised here. In most cases these people cannot legally return to the United States for at least ten years. This country has the right to deport non-citizens who violate the law; however, that does not mean it is always in our best interests to do so. I personally don’t believe deportation should be the only government response to a petty criminal immigration offense or a civil immigration law violation.
Other options, such as legalization after paying a fine, have been proposed – but lately these have been shouted down as an amnesty. It should be noted that there are many people who would not qualify for such an “amnesty” due to a criminal record, other previous immigration violations, obtaining government benefits through fraud, lack of a qualifying relative or lack of prospective employment, etc. Such a plan is hardly a true amnesty if there is a fine assessed for the criminal behavior, unless one considers paying a speeding ticket an act of amnesty. Rather, it is a practical way to penalize people who have violated the law but then legalize the status of those whose removal from this country would do more harm than good.
The Demographic issue
The baby boom generation is beginning to reach retirement age. The US Census Bureau estimates that in 2010 there are five people of working age (18-64) to every person of retirement age (65+). Over the next twenty years that ratio is expected to drop to three to one.
From 2010 to 2030 the total number of persons of working age is expected to grow at an average rate of less than one million persons per year. This trend does not portend well for a growth economy or for public programs dependent on payroll taxes for funding – such as Medicare and Social Security.
The United States’ current immigration policies discourage foreign students from staying in this country to work once they have graduated from U.S. colleges and universities. The number of visas made available for skilled workers has also been curtailed over the past decade. It is all the more difficult to rebound from a recession if we attract and retain an ever shrinking number of the world’s best and brightest young workers, entrepreneurs and inventors. Perhaps you noticed that a majority of the American Nobel Prize winners this year were originally from somewhere else. [insert tasteless President Obama joke here]
Given the demographic trends, however, we may have a difficult time as a country producing enough homegrown labor for even semi-skilled or unskilled jobs. Just to maintain the current ratio of workers to retirees the country would need to increase immigration and guest worker levels to approximately seven million persons per year for the next twenty years. Even if we assume that greater numbers of people will continue working past age 65 due to increased longevity and decreased 401(k) balances – the US workforce will still have to be supplemented by a far greater numbers of foreign born workers than are present today if we are to avoid escalating payroll taxes and/or ever increasing budget deficits to cover entitlement programs.
It may be difficult to picture in these times when there already more people out of work than jobs to fill – but the numbers are looming out there for anyone who cares to look. The United States must get its immigration policy back on the track of welcoming the immigrants who have always been one of the great engines of our economic growth. More (not less) new immigrants, the businesses they start, the inventions they create and the work that they perform will make or break the middle-class of this country over the next twenty years.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/files/nation/summary/np2008-t2.xls
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Congratulations Rich McNamara!
This one isn't immigration related, but hey I can't not mention it when a partner at the firm gets appointed by the Governor as the first Judge of the brand new, specialized, NH business court.
Congratulations soon to be Judge Richard McNamara! If you are a lawyer viewing this page from New Hampshire then you probably already know Rich, what he looks like and what some of his accomplishments are -- but if you would like to know more, check out the firm web site.
www.wiggin-nourie.com
Congratulations soon to be Judge Richard McNamara! If you are a lawyer viewing this page from New Hampshire then you probably already know Rich, what he looks like and what some of his accomplishments are -- but if you would like to know more, check out the firm web site.
www.wiggin-nourie.com
Thursday, July 23, 2009
How to find us
A number of previous clients and old friends have told me that they have had some trouble finding us in our new home here at Wiggin & Nourie. Below are the directions as listed on our Wiggin-Nourie.com website...but I would also emphasize that there are several entrances to this building ours is called the Center Entrance (because it is in the center of the bulding) and we are on the third floor.
Manchester Office
WHEN TRAVELING FROM:
THE SOUTH - 93N or 3N/Everett Turnpikefrom 93N, take the 293N/101W Exit and follow the directions from the EAST. From 3N/Everett Turnpike, the highway will become 293N take 293N to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right toward Manchester at the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
THE EAST - 101WTake 93S/101W to 293N/101W Exit (right). Pass the mall, cross the river and bear right at 293N to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right toward Manchester at the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
THE WEST - 101ETake 101E to 293N Manchester Exit (right) to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right toward Manchester at the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
THE NORTH - 93STake 93S to 293S (bear left) to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right towards Canal Street and The Millyard. Continue past the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
Manchester Office
WHEN TRAVELING FROM:
THE SOUTH - 93N or 3N/Everett Turnpikefrom 93N, take the 293N/101W Exit and follow the directions from the EAST. From 3N/Everett Turnpike, the highway will become 293N take 293N to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right toward Manchester at the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
THE EAST - 101WTake 93S/101W to 293N/101W Exit (right). Pass the mall, cross the river and bear right at 293N to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right toward Manchester at the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
THE WEST - 101ETake 101E to 293N Manchester Exit (right) to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right toward Manchester at the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
THE NORTH - 93STake 93S to 293S (bear left) to Exit 6 (Amoskeag St. Goffstown Rd). Bear right towards Canal Street and The Millyard. Continue past the Amoskeag Inn, through the traffic light to the Canal St. Exit (right). At bottom of ramp, turn right onto N. Commercial Street. Our office is located in the Jefferson Mill Building which is the first Mill Building on the right. Parking is available in front of the building to the left of the entrance marked "center" as you face the building, and each space is designated "client."
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