By Jesse Young It is officially 2024 and, in case we missed it in December, we would like to kick off the blog this year by offering our readers our most sincere wishes for a successful year ahead. In 2024, we intend to continue sharing our knowledge and experience with you, as well as keeping you updated with the latest developments in US immigration.

However, as we say goodbye to 2023, we would like to take a moment to recap some blog highlights. Last year we discussed a wide range of topics, including the path to permanent residence in the United States through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and options for changing the status of workplace abuse victims, such as the T Visa. We are sure there is much here that you will find useful, especially if you are wondering if this is the year for you to get your documents in the U.S. Read on and we will take you on a brief tour of our archive. We started last year with  a step-by-step guide about how Eagan Immigration can take you from a simple phone call to our office to permanent residency or even US citizenship. How exactly? Well, once you get in touch with us, we can determine if you have a viable case. From there we can start getting the wheels in motion. Our lawyers will find the best possible option for you to fix your status, then, after signing a contract, you will speak with a member of our case preparation team to tell us your story. Then we take care of putting together your immigration petition and, once we obtain all the required documents from you, we submit it to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In many cases, this will lead to you getting your work permit within six to eight months. Better yet, we can carry out this process remotely, which means that, until the moment you attend your interview with USCIS, you do not need to travel. In February and March, we published two articles about Who we are  and what we believe. We know that choosing who will represent you in your immigration matters is a big decision. That is why we wanted to share our core values with you: Innovation, Commitment, Compassion, and Communication.

• When we say Innovation , that means we will use all the means at our disposal to find your path to legal status. Many of our clients have spoken with other lawyers who told them it was impossible for them to get their papers. Thanks to our innovative legal strategies, we are proud to say that these same clients now have their work permits or green cards.
• The commitment with us means that we do not give up on difficult cases. The path from undocumented immigrant to legal resident of the United States is rarely straightforward, but when other lawyers might give up on a client in a complicated situation, we double down.
• Compassion It is the starting point for each of our cases, because the moment you pick up the phone to call us, you will be speaking with someone who does everything possible to understand. Many of our employees are immigrants or children of immigrants. We all believe in you, and that is why we do everything possible to represent you better than any other law firm.
• Our last value, communication, means we want to keep you informed. Whether you are speaking with a member of our team, checking our social media, or reading this blog, we always make an effort to share everything we know with you, clearly and completely.

In April and May we discussed two recent changes in United States immigration law: the End of Title 42 and the new Deferred Action policy changes designed to protect immigrants from workplace abuse. If you are not familiar with these changes, here is a brief explanation:

• Title 42 It was a policy instituted by the Trump administration in March 2020 that gave Border Patrol agents the authority to turn away asylum seekers at ports of entry without giving them the opportunity to make their case. In May 2023, the Biden administration announced the end of Title 42 and the return to the previous asylum policy, known as Title 8. Unfortunately, this has had the effect of making the asylum application process even more difficult, as applicants who have not sought protection in other countries are now disqualified.
• The new policy of Biden Administration Deferred Action, on the other hand, it has opened the door to legal status for thousands of undocumented workers who were previously ineligible. In January 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced that noncitizens who have been victims of workplace abuse and have reported it to a government agency can submit an application to USCIS and potentially receive a work permit within 30 days.

In June we present the story of “María”,  an undocumented mother, who contacts Eagan Immigration and begins her journey toward US citizenship by applying for VAWA. Maria's story is interesting for several reasons. For one, other immigration lawyers have told her there is nothing she can do to fix her status. She has a 23-year-old son who causes her a lot of trouble, but she doesn't think it's an unusual situation. After calling Eagan, she learns that, in fact, she can get her papers. And those problems with her son? They make her eligible to apply for permanent residency through VAWA. We follow her story from the moment she first speaks with an Eagan receptionist to the day she naturalizes as a US citizen. In August we provided a helpful guide for our readers on deportation: the conditions that can lead to a person in the United States being deported, as well as the process that ultimately leads to deportation. We also address some of the ways to prevent this from happening. Finally, in November we present the story of one of our T-Visa clients. The T Visa is a pathway to legal status available to victims of human trafficking. That may sound like an uncommon situation, but what few people realize is how frequent trafficking is in the United States. Our client was lured into farm work, then paid much less than originally agreed upon and threatened with deportation if he refused to work. He was housed in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, had his identity documents confiscated, and was routinely verbally abused. Fortunately, today he lives free and, after filing his T Visa with us, is on the path to obtaining permanent legal status in the U.S. While our client's story presents an extreme example of modern-day human trafficking, many more people qualify for the T Visa than you might think. That is why if you have dealt with an abusive boss, we encourage you to call us to find out if you too might have a case. Here at Eagan, we are excited to start a new year. We intend to continue using our blog to feature the most useful immigration news and information you will find anywhere.

As always, if you have any questions about your particular immigration situation, pcall us at 202-709-6439 o click here for a consultation directly with attorney Lauren Eagan.