English Con la elección de Donald Trump para servir como nuestro próximo presidente, quien se postuló con una plataforma decididamente antiinmigrante, seguramente veremos cambios dramáticos en la política de inmigración. Basándonos en la retórica de Trump, su administración anterior de 2017-2020 y el Proyecto 2025 (que se entiende bien como la hoja de ruta de la próxima administración en temas de inmigración), anticipamos un aumento en la aplicación de las leyes...

With the election of Donald Trump to serve as our next president, who ran on a decidedly anti-immigrant platform, we are certain to see dramatic shifts in immigration policy. Based on Trump’s rhetoric, his previous administration from 2017-2020, and Project 2025 (which is well understood to be the incoming administration’s roadmap on immigration), we expect to see increased immigration enforcement; slower processing times for immigration benefits; limitations on or elimination of...

Our dedicated Senior Associate Attorney, Andrea Sweeney, and her family are making a big move from Colorado to the beautiful state of Montana. Andrea has been with Kolko and Casey for nearly seven years and has been an invaluable member of our firm from the start. She began at Kolko and Casey with an early focus on family-based immigration, asylum and removal defense, and lately has been expanding into more employment-based...

Kolko & Casey, P.C. is very pleased to announce that Angela Cifor has joined our office as a Partner and in collaboration with Managing Partner Jennifer Casey will lead our Firm in its continued commitment to excellent service to our clients. Angela previously worked at Kolko & Casey from 2016 through 2021 as an Associate and Senior Associate Attorney, and we are thrilled that she will be re-joining our team as...

Last Friday, on October 25, 2019, the U.S. Attorney General William Barr decided two cases that could have a significant impact on an individual’s eligibility for certain types of immigration relief. Both cases pertain to an individual’s criminal history and its impact on his or her ability to remain in the United States. In Matter of Castillo-Perez, the Attorney General held that an individual with two or more convictions for driving...

On December 4, 2018, Mr. Carlos Rojo-Ramirez, of Colorado, through his attorneys David. L. Kolko and Jennifer Casey (Kolko & Associates, P.C.), challenged President Trump’s unlawful designation of Matthew G. Whitaker as Acting Attorney General of the United States. In Rojo-Ramirez v. Trump, et. al., (18-cv-03125), filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Mr. Rojo-Ramirez asserted that U.S. Immigration Judges are temporarily operating without any legal authority...

  In his Executive Order, Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, (January 25, 2017)  President Trump directs the DHS Secretary to use the “process of expedited removal” under Section 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA or Act) to individuals present in the United States who cannot affirmatively show that they have been continuously physically present in the United States for two (2) years prior to the date of their...

Around the office lately, I’ve noticed an increase in consultations related to DUI arrests. For many immigrants, a DUI arrest begins the one-way trip back to their home country. For any arrest, proper legal counsel should be sought from an immigration attorney to determine whether the arrest carries immigration consequences. For most permanent residents and people in lawful status, one simple alcohol-related DUI causes little harm to one’s immigration status. However,...

On March 3, 2016, Partner Jennifer Casey appeared on Colorado Public Radio’s “Colorado Matters” program to discuss the lengthy backlogs at the U.S. Immigration Courts in Colorado. Currently, the Immigration Courts in Colorado have the longest delays in the country, with the average case processing time of 933 days. Listen to Jennifer’s insights on these issues here: http://www.cpr.org/news/story/denver-s-immigration-court-has-longest-hearing-delays-us  

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently stepped up its immigration enforcement efforts. Starting this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun conducting “immigration raids” across the country targeting individuals and families who have entered the United States within the last two years and who have an order of removal from the U.S. Immigration Court. Many non-citizens in United States can be caught up in these caught up in...

Over the past two years, due to a major shift in priorities by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as a very understaffed court, the Denver Immigration Court put thousands of cases on hold and set hearings out to a “place holder” date of November 29, 2019. In recent weeks, the Colorado Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has been informed by the Court that it will begin resetting...

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published new guidance in June on the care of transgender adults in immigration detention, in a Memorandum titled "Further Guidance Regarding the Care of Transgender Detainees." The Memorandum provides guidelines in several areas of detainee care, including intake procedures, determining housing placement, medical care, conducting searches, and access to clothing and commissary hygiene products. Notably, the guidance provides that transgender individuals may be assigned housing...

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) recently reported that the backlog for the immigration courts grew to an astounding 445,607 as of April 30, 2015, nationwide. The backlog appears to be the result of a changed focus for the courts to hearing cases involving recent arrivals and unaccompanied minors. Representing 15.7% of the docket, unaccompanied minors cases appear to be moving quickly as there were just over 700 fewer cases at...

Respondents in removal proceedings have been having their upcoming hearings rescheduled in recent months, to a date in 2019. This date happens to be the day following Thanksgiving in 2019. Over the past several months, many immigration courts around the country, including Denver, have been vacating or cancelling scheduled hearings and resetting those hearings to November 29, 2019. This date, however, is merely a “place holder” on the court’s docket to...