Recently in Immigration Law Category

Deceased Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had his U.S. citizenship application delayed because of a prior FBI interview.

The interview was conducted in 2011 at the request of the Russian government, based on suspicion that Tsarnaev may have had links to terrorist groups, The New York Times reports.

Although Tamerlan's interview succeeded in delaying his citizenship application, that's not the only way such an application can be delayed or denied. Here are five common reasons why even law-abiding immigrants can be denied citizenship:

Many immigrants come to the United States looking to build their own version of the American dream. But out of all of those immigrants, who qualifies for a green card?

Green card eligibility may come from different facets of a person's life.

Congress has given top priority to those who are immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. But that's not the only way to qualify for a green card. Here are some of the most common ways to become eligible for a green card:

Naturalization is the process for a permanent resident to become a U.S. citizen.

Generally, every immigrant who enters the United States first entered the country on an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa. After entering the country, many immigrants apply to become a lawful permanent resident for reasons like work or marriage.

While permanent residency allows someone to stay in the country permanently, it does not offer certain benefits like the right to vote or to hold public office. As a result, many permanent residents eventually apply to become U.S. citizens.

There is a misconception that someone who marries a U.S. citizen automatically acquires U.S. citizenship by marriage. This is simply not true.

Marriage to a U.S. citizen can certainly expedite someone's path to citizenship, but the alien still needs to wait several months to actually receive a green card, and then several years after that to become eligible to apply for citizenship.

So how does someone become a U.S. citizen after marrying a U.S. citizen? Here are four general steps:

Immigration scams are reportedly on the rise since President Obama's deferred action program went into effect last summer.

The deferred action program allows certain undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States and even receive work authorization if they meet stringent eligibility requirements.

However, scammers are apparently preying on vulnerable immigrants by offering "guaranteed" or "expedited" results for a hefty payment, and even requiring that some applicants pay money for a free government form.

A Texas state trooper killed two illegal immigrants by shooting at them from a helicopter.

The police helicopter was giving chase to a pickup truck speeding through the desert along the Mexican border when the unidentified state trooper decided to shoot at the truck, reports The Associated Press.

The state trooper said that he was trying to disable the vehicle that was suspected to be involved in drug smuggling. The police sharpshooter fired shots at the truck's tires causing them to blow out. The driver lost control and drove into a ditch.

Becoming a U.S. citizen is a big step for many immigrants.

While holding a Green Card allows someone to stay in the U.S. permanently, there are certain tangible and intangible benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen.

Some tangible benefits include having the right to vote, having the ability to hold public office, and being able to extend citizenship to your family members. Some intangible benefits of citizenship include finally being able to tell others that you are an American with all that it entails.

Becoming a U.S. citizenship is a complicated and time-consuming process. Here are three general steps you should know about becoming a U.S. citizen:

To complement Obama's policy allowing certain undocumented youth to apply for work permits, California will also permit those youth to get a state driver's license.

Governor Jerry Brown approved the bill on Sunday which will allow hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver's license in California. The state is the first in the nation to extend this privilege to youth newly eligible for work permits.

Many are praising the law as a positive move for both immigration reform and public safety. But not all California law makers are happy about the new legislation.

Almost 1.8 million young illegal immigrants may qualify for temporary legal status under President Obama's deferred action program. This is more than double what experts initially expected when first Obama announced the program.

A big reason for the increase in numbers of people affected is that the guidelines for the deferred action program are far more expansive. It includes young people under 30 who did not graduate high school or receive a G.E.D. Previously, an applicant needed one of these degrees to be eligible.

Here is an overview on the deferred action program, as reported by the New York Daily News:

The crackdown on undocumented immigrants comes with a high cost to tax payers but it's a profitable business for private prison companies.

The U.S. detains 400,000 immigrants each year, some of whom end up becoming legal permanent residents. Holding all those people is expected to cost taxpayers $2 billion this year.

The number of immigrants has largely outgrown the beds available in government owned prisons so many end up in private facilities.

That choice isn't necessarily cost-effective.