Pacific Northwest Cross Border Law
Immigration Law, Blaine, WA
On September 6, 2018 the SEC filed a complaint against Joel Burstein for conduct related to a fraudulent scheme connected to an EB-5 regional center. The SEC alleges that Mr. Burstein aided and abetted fraud “in connection with the purchase or sale” of securities, and aided and abetted fraud in the offer or sale of… Read More
This suit has been a long time coming. Both the SEC and the Department of Homeland Security have been aware of the issues with this project since at least as early as March 31, 2015. Investors in this project filed suit against the regional center, the promoters, and others in March 2015. The hotel at… Read More
Unlike citizens of most other countries, Canadians are not required to obtain a visa before applying for admission to the U.S. as visitors (8 CFR 212.1(a)). Instead, Canadians may apply for admission to the US as a visitor by proceeding to a US port of entry and presenting themselves for inspection. To be classified as… Read More
A week or two ago CBC ran this story about a Canadian vendor who landed a vendor’s booth at a trade show in Maryland. She loaded approximately “11 grand” worth of product into her car, along with an employee, her parents, and paperwork apparently in order, then proceeded to a U.S. port of entry. Ultimately,… Read More
A few months ago a friend reached out to me for some guidance crossing the border. His long-time girlfriend had to attend an 8-month training in the US for work. Her company took care of her work-authorization, but my friend was on his own. Lucky for him, his employer was going to allow him to… Read More
On the Jeff O’Neil Show this morning they mentioned that Elizabeth May had been charged with contempt of court. Breathlessly, the hosts proclaimed that now she “can’t cross the border.” Apparently this situation is much more benign. May has been charged with civil contempt, but the judge recommended that she be charged with criminal contempt. In either… Read More
The Washington State Supreme Court recently ordered the creation of a new rule of evidence to become effective on September 1, 2018. Generally, in both civil and criminal cases “evidence of a party’s or a witness’s immigration status shall not be admissible.” In civil and criminal cases there is an exception when “immigration status is an essential… Read More
Update 6/7/2018: Since this post has become the most popular piece on this blog, I thought I should invite readers to contact my office with questions about the naturalization process. On Tuesday January 30, 2018 I became a US citizen. I submitted Form N-400 just before Christmas of 2016, and completed biometrics in early 2017.… Read More
On January 10, 2018 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) executed its “7-Eleven Operation.” According to ICE’s Deputy Director, Thomas D. Homan, “ICE will continue its efforts to protect jobs for American workers by eliminating unfair competitive advantages for companies that exploit illegal immigration.” Both Fox News and NPR described ICE’s efforts as “raids.” On the… Read More
American Government A) Principles of American Democracy What is the supreme law of the land? What does the Constitution do? The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words? What is an amendment? What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? What is one… Read More