Reflections On The Last Four Years & What It Means For The Road Ahead

The emotion and relief I’m feeling as I write this, hours removed from witnessing Joe Biden formally sworn in as the next President of the United States, is really hard to describe. As he put it in his inaugural address, “democracy has prevailed,” and as an immigration attorney its hard to put into words how important that is to me and so many family, friends, clients, and colleagues…but I’ll try.

Since 2016, so many people I know have faced unprecedented and ever-increasing challenges to their ability to lawfully come to the United States. And 2020 was by far the worst. In addition to the chaos of the previous several years, out of nowhere, the world gets hit with a pandemic and just like that, immigration to the U.S. became even more unpredictable. 

There is no way any of us could have anticipated what life would be like over the last four years, but in my nearly 15 years of practicing immigration law I never expected to take on the challenges I did.  I don’t need to describe to you what life was like as an immigration lawyer over the past four year.  Every single one of you was aware of what was happening to our immigration system - from travel bans, to work visa and green card bans, to dismantling of our asylum system, and the list goes on and on.

It could have been easy as a husband and father, with so much going on in my personal life, to just watch these unnecessary policies unfold and wreak havoc.  Instead, I took this opportunity to fight, adapt, and pivot on behalf of my clients and the U.S. immigration system.  I was fortunate to accomplish many extraordinary things for my clients during this extreme time, and was honored to be recognized by Tribeza as a “Hero Serving Austin During The Pandemic” and by Austin Monthly as one of “Austin’s Top Attorneys."

These victories, however, are only the start of what I believe are better days ahead.  Will there continue to be challenges?  Absolutely, but everything in life comes and goes in cycles and immigration law is no exception. Since the earliest days of our republic the forces of restrictive immigration policy have come and gone with striking regularity.  From our earliest policy of wide open doors to such restrictive laws as the Chinese Exclusion Act, to the unprecedented influx of Europeans in the late 1800s, to the severe tightening of quotas in the 1920s to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (the basis for our current system) the cycle of opening and closing our doors seems to repeat itself.

We are clearly in the middle of a very restrictive wave in that cycle.  However if we are to learn anything from our past it is that this wave too shall pass.  It is my belief that with the new Biden administration we may well see the beginning of the end of this restrictive wave and the start of a new and more balanced approach toward our immigration policy....a policy of fairness and justice.  And if that is the case those with proper planning and advice will be in the best position to ride that wave safely to their intended shore.

As we look ahead to the future, I will be here to help each and every one of you chart your course as you sail on your immigration journey.