USCIS in the Trump Era

USCIS Takes Its Lead from President Trump and it’s Not a Good One

The Future of US Immigration
by Chris M. Ingram., LL.M., ESQ

Back to News Home Page

United Stated Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has changed under the Trump Presidency, and certainly not for the better. With force, USCIS has gotten tough on all immigration cases. If you thought that USCIS was making the immigration process more difficult for only undocumented aliens, think again. Behind the scenes, USCIS has begun to get tough on everyone.

How Do You Choose the Right Law Firm?

As you decide which US immigration law firm to represent you, it is important that you pick a law firm that will be dedicated to winning your case, no matter what. Let me explain. Some lawyers will only take on the easiest of cases, cases that seem really easy to win. This means that many law firms will turn down potentially viable cases because they simply do not have the depth of talent or knowledge to overcome difficulties these cases may run into. Furthermore, some lawyers take cases where the likelihood of success is low, but they have a ‘win some, lose some’ attitude.

The Best Lawyers Are the Ones that Will Fight to the Win!

However, not all lawyers are the same. At face value, it is very difficult to ascertain whether a lawyer is good or is just able to talk a good game. Trying to pick a lawyer based on price is not a good approach either. I’ll do my best to help you navigate these really difficult issues.

How Much Do You Want the American Dream?

US Immigration is not just filling out a few forms and then getting the visa of your choice. Today, it’s about putting a complete case together with as much supporting evidence as possible. Not all evidence will satisfy the needs of a case; only very specific evidence will assuage USCIS’ every concern. So, the message here is to prepare yourself, and do an extensive amount of work in supporting your legal team so they can prepare the very best case possible. Quality evidence is always preferred to a high quantity of evidence, and that requires a lot of commitment from you to gather what ever is required.

Does Your Attorney Have the Expertise to Win Your Case?

It’s really important that you’re satisfied with your attorney’s level of expertise before you invest your money with them. A good way to assess the competency of your lawyer is to look at their Testimonials Gallery. We have many testimonials on our website, from very satisfied EB1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability clients and E2 Treaty Investor clients. EB1 Green Cards and E2 Visas are our specialty. While we may do other types of cases, the truth is the vast majority of our cases fall into the EB1 and E2 field, and we can share testimonial after testimonial in this area. If you wanted us to handle an Asylum case, we’d freely admit that this is not our area of specialization and refer you to someone who has deep expertise in that field.

EB1 – Jason – Film Maker, London, UK

EB1 – Audrey – Media Consultant – Ireland

EB1 – Rob – Wealth Manager – UK

O1 Visa /EB1 – Urs – Stuntman – Switzerland

EB1 – Isabelle – Talent Agent – France

EB1 – Anna – Makeup Artist – Sweden

Will attorney’s fake their testimonials? I doubt it very much. All attorneys have gone through a very expensive, extensive and rigorous education program to get licensed over many grueling years. So, no attorney in their right mind would want to jeopardize their careers and license by posting false claims of success. Every testimonial on our website is genuine, and we are constantly getting new testimonials as we are consistently winning cases. The challenge is keeping up with posting each testimonial we receive. Moreover, we want our clients to write something informative for our future clients. This is quite a time investment, so we have to be selective in the testimonials we post. Having clients say that we’re great is good for the ego, but that does not detail our passion, knowledge, and effort to our potential and future clients. When you see our testimonials, you will see that we have tried to craft the layout of them in such a way to be as insightful as possible.

Is a “Win Some, Lose Some” Lawyer Ok With You?

There are many lawyers who have a “win some, lose some” attitude. Whilst it is true that no lawyer can ever guarantee to win your case, it should never be acceptable to hold this view. What I mean by this is that when a surgeon loses a patient on the table, he or she has to go to the family and say that they did absolutely everything they could to save their loved one. Afterwards, the surgeon has to live with the reality that a patient died on their table. As they visualize the surgery over and over again in their minds, they reflect to see if there was anything they could have done to save that life. Not all lawyers think and feel like doctors.  For my firm, this is a standard.

Yes, US immigration is tough, which is precisely why you need the best lawyers representing you.

We take on tough cases all the time and we work as hard as we can to make sure the case is presented in the best possible way. When a case is submitted, we are at the will of whether a USCIS officer feels minded or not to approve the case. Some officers are great and will approve the case right away. However, increasingly in the Trump era, we’re finding many USCIS adjudicators are adopting a very aggressive anti-immigrant line and will try to find ways to push back.

Will Your Attorney Fight for Your Future?

When US Immigration pushes back on your case, it’s at that point you find out if your attorney is in it to win, or simply in it – having collected a fee, now ready to bail. We do not bail. No matter how hard a USCIS officer might push back, it is our job to push back even harder. We will take into consideration precisely what the officer’s issues are and then use our experience and expertise to figure out the best strategy to handle the situation. We will fight until we win. We do not bail. I cannot tell you the amount of cases we have won after beating down a negative decision until there’s no choice but to approve our case.

There is No Substitute for Good Old Fashioned Expertise.

There are many clients for whom we’ve fought that are now enjoying the American Dream of which it’s beautiful to be a part. The other day I got a lovely email from a client on their second anniversary just to tell me how much they were enjoying life and to thank us for our part in making it come true.

The Future of US Immigration

The future of US Immigration is not bright. There is a lot of anti-immigration rhetoric in Congress, but in corporate America the demand for qualified immigrants to the US has never been higher. The demand for STEM workers is off the chart, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in STEM is between 0 – 2.5%. US companies are fighting over each other to get STEM qualified immigrants.

America Needs More Talent – If You’ve Got Talent Call Today! We Need You!

I have no idea if there will be any substantive changes to current US immigration law because there simply is not sufficient agreement to get anything done. The Republican immigration plans are so harsh that the Democrats will do everything they can to block it. Anything the Democrats propose will be seem too lenient and thus Republicans will do everything they can to block it. What to do? Do not delay and whatever immigration option you seek, do it now; the future could be a lot more restrictive than what we have now.

We are ready to fight for your case. Call today and let’s get the ball rolling.

Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram

US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
401 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor,
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292

Specializing in the E2 Visa, EB1 Green Card, L-1A Visa and O1 Visa and K1 Visa Marriage-Based Immigration. Attorney Chris M. Ingram is dedicated to providing the very best in US Immigration legal representation. Enjoy our website.

Important Notice: Please note that all videos created by the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram are intended as general information only and not specific legal advice pertaining your case. If you would like specific legal advice on any immigration matter please do not hesitate to contact this law office accordingly. All pictorial images used in these videos and the website in general are licensed stocked images and not portraits, or otherwise, of anyone from the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram, nor of its clients unless otherwise indicated by name. All images are used solely for illustrative purposes only. Copyright 2010-2015 All Rights Reserved. ECI 09/24/17