U.S. Supreme Court Decision Should Allow New DACA Applications Soon!
DACA should be back for new applicants again soon! Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that President Trump’s administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it ended DACA — one of the first things the President did to fulfill campaign promises. Since then, we have only been able to renew applications for those who had DACA already. Once the legal issues are sorted out from this decision, we should expect a chance to submit new applications at some point in the coming weeks or months. This is a major victory to be celebrated!
If you think you may be eligible, please contact us right away!
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Montana Supreme Court: Local police can’t make immigration arrests
Montana joined several other states Wednesday by making it clear that local law enforcement officials may not arrest and detain people under federal immigration detainers. The Montana Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the state had violated its own laws when a law enforcement officer in Lincoln County detained a man for possible immigration violations after his arrest on suspicion of burglary. Ramon filed a lawsuit against Lincoln County sheriff Darren Short, represented by the ACLU of Montana, the ACLU and Border Crossing Law Firm.
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Article: Finding home: UM soccer coach's journey to U.S. citizenship
We recently spoke with Dante Filpula Ankney of the Montana Kaimin about UM soccer coach Chris Citowicki’s immigration journey.
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Article: Congress looks to remove ‘illegal alien’ from federal use
“The term [illegal alien] is a problem because you would think if someone is an illegal alien, that means they are all in the same boat,” Shahid Haque, an immigration lawyer in Montana, said, adding that “illegal alien” is overly simplistic and legally inaccurate. He also said the word can do a lot of harm in the way immigrants are treated. “It allows characterization of a large group of people to be less entitled to compassion or dignity,” Haque said. “It allows people to dehumanize the immigrants themselves and cast their entire existence as illegal.” “The broader the term is used, the more it’s meant to demonize immigrants and portray them as criminals,” he said.
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Video Statement on ICE Subpoenas for Montana State Employment Data
Yesterday, an employee of the Montana Department of Labor quit in protest over the fact that his employer was about to give out confidential employment information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE”), so that they could use that to raid businesses in search of undocumented immigrants. In this video I law out some of the important background information on this issue.
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Urgent: Stop ICE from deporting a Mexican national who was sexually assaulted in their custody!
ICE is moving to immediately deport a Mexican national who was sexually assaulted in their custody. Please sign a petition to help stop it.
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Firm Prevails: Montana Supreme Court strikes down entirety of anti-immigrant law!
Thanks to the efforts of the Border Crossing Law Firm, the Montana Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision striking down the entirety of an anti-immigrant law, which was placed on the 2012 ballot by the Montana legislature and approved by 80% of voters.
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Representing Immigrant Victims of Domestic Abuse
Every immigration case implicates matters of family unity or separation, and can dramatically impact a client’s livelihood and quality of life. Immigration matters involving domestic violence and abuse are often the most challenging — but also the most important — types of cases for immigration practitioners.
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Firm Prevails in Lawsuit Against Montana Highway Patrol's Racial Profiling of Latinos
On April 4, 2014, the Border Crossing Law Firm prevailed in its class action lawsuit against the Montana Highway Patrol, which was brought because the Montana Highway Patrol was engaging in a practice of detaining Latino drivers and passengers for the purpose of checking into their immigration status.
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Attorney General Tim Fox is Wasting Taxpayer Dollars on Ideologically-Driven Challenge to President Obama’s New Immigration Policies
Today, Attorney General Tim Fox joined in a lawsuit to challenge President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration, which will protect hundreds of Montana children from being separated from their undocumented parents. Shahid Haque, an immigration attorney in Helena, believes that “it is disappointing that the Attorney General is once again wasting taxpayer dollars and his office’s limited resources by pushing his own ideological agenda.”
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Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Obama's New Immigration Policies
President Obama just announced exciting new immigration policies that will protect some immigrants from deportation and prevent them from being separated from their loved ones. Here are the top 10 things you need to know.
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President Obama’s New Immigration Policies Will Protect Many Montanans Who Are Here Without Immigration Status
Tonight, President Obama announced exciting new immigration policies that will shield hundreds of Montanans from deportation and prevent them from being separated from their loved ones. He is calling these new laws the "Immigration Accountability Executive Actions.”
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Victory: Firm Prevails in Challenge to Montana Anti-Immigrant Law!
The Border Crossing Law Firm won a victory for immigrants in Montana by striking down the vast majority of Montana's voter-approved law requiring state agencies to determine an applicant’s citizenship or immigration status before granting a wide variety of state services.
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Client Sexually Assaulted in Immigration Detention in Montana
As an immigration attorney and President of the Montana Immigrant Justice Alliance ("MIJA"), Shahid Haque is representing and advocating for Audemio Orozco-Ramirez, who was the victim of a sexual assault while in immigration detention in Montana. Audemio courageously shared his story the Great Falls Tribune.
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Video: An Overview of Immigration Issues in Montana
We have a broad and diverse immigrant population in Montana -- more than most realize. There are a lot of issues that immigrants face in Montana. Shahid Haque has represented over a thousand Montana immigrants and their families, and has significant knowledge about issued and trends facing immigrants in Montana. Learn about some of these issues in an interview that Shahid Haque did for the Helena Civic TV show "Everybody's Business."
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Pot, Meet Kettle: U.S. Department of Justice's Mishandling of Violent Assault Against Missoula Woman
The U.S. Department of Justice report on the Missoula County Attorney’s office doesn't tell the story of every abuse victim in Missoula. It doesn't tell the story of my pro bono client, who was in a long-term abusive relationship and was the victim of an assault committed by her ex-spouse in Missoula.
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Video: NAFTA and How U.S. Trade Policy Impacts Immigration
In our national debates on immigration reform, we typically omit an extraordinarily important component of the whole discussion: How U.S. trade policy impacts immigration. Understanding how trade policies such as NAFTA actually create and drive undocumented immigration is essential to the discussion, and is perhaps the missing link to greater public understanding and appreciation of the need for immigration reform.
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Thank You, Linda Gryczan: How Gay Rights Pioneers Helped Immigrants in Montana
Immigrants who are challenging LR-121, the State of Montana’s new anti-immigrant law, owe a debt of gratitude to the pioneering gay rights advocates who established an important legal precedent that gives marginalized groups legal standing to challenge laws that threaten to deprive them of their rights.
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Victory Against Montana Attorney General, Lawsuit Against Anti-Immigrant Law Continues
This week, Judge Sherlock rejected the Montana Attorney General's efforts to dismiss our lawsuit, and has ruled that the Montana Immigrant Justice Alliance (MIJA) has standing to challenge LR-121 on behalf of its members, who have a reasonable fear that the law will be used to wrongly deny them benefits.
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