Michael Levites

Good everybody. This is Mike Levitis from JurisQ.com and we have here Yakov Spekter, an immigration attorney. And we’re going to ask Yakov a few questions about immigration law. A lot of things going on in the world right now, people need help coming into the US or staying in US. So let’s start, what’s one of the most common misconceptions about immigration law? What’s the most confusing thing, misconceptions that your clients come to you with?

Yakov Spektor

Well, Michael, we could probably be talking for hours about the misconceptions that people have about the US immigration law. And, you know, the funny thing is that, a lot of them, they start calling different immigration lawyers, and those immigration lawyers, they feel like, information is something that they have to dispense in very small doses, they charge for information, they withhold some information. I think information should be free. And one thing that a lot of people should know, and should realize is that the immigration laws in this country are one of the more restrictive if you compare them with the other laws around the world. There’s a lot of people here, who let’s say they come through the border, or they overstay their visas, and they just stay here because they’re able to get a job somewhere. Which might not be a quote unquote, on the books job, but a job nevertheless, where they would be getting a salary that would be enough to feed them and potentially even send money to their family. As we know, millions of people send money overseas to Latin America, and whole villages are being supported like that. And they work here for many, many years. They support the economies in their countries, they support the economy here. Our service economy is pretty much relying on these illegal immigrants. And then once they get older, they often come to me and they say, Look, you know, I’ve been working in this country for 40 years, I’m over the pension age, I never been, I’ve never been arrested. I’ve been an outstanding citizen all around. The only thing that’s missing, I don’t have status in this country. Based on all that can I get a green card? Can I become legal? And the short answer to that usually is the short answer to that is no. Unfortunately, there are very specific conditions when somebody could try and adjust their shadows here.

Michael Levites

Yeah. So this is why exactly we’re doing it to clear up misconceptions. So people are prepared and when they come to your office, or other attorneys, and they know what to expect. And then you can help them with filling out the paperwork and fighting for their cause. So they can get legalized in America. So we appreciate it.