Law and Software
Some of my clients in prison have serious immigration issues.
Put it another way. Once they have paid their debt to the state, they will likely be shipped off to the country
where they were (un)lucky enough to have been born. Some don't even speak the language. Most will be forced
to leave spouses, parents and children behind in the US.
The curious thing about Immigration is that it is civil law, not criminal. So it
doesn't say that someone must be deported. It says they are deportable. It does not say they are
commiting a crime by staying (they are not) It says they are not admissible.
And because Immigration is a civil matter, its really about life choices, and it is important
that the client works with her attorney to understand and face these choices, and starts to
understand why her life is taking this course. When you see that it's not about
"punishment" but other people asserting (or not) their right to say "no" to you, however
unfair - then you deal with it as you would deal with a husband who walks out on you, a child who
overdoses, a bank that forecloses your house. People say "we don't want you, we reject you" all
the time. Only here it is a country that may do it.
The Law and Software Online Edition of the Immigration and
Nationality Act
The Immigration and Nationality Act is not the easiest of statutes to master. And in its raw form, even the
online versions are awkward and cumbersome.
As part of my research, I have developed a
new online edition of
the Act, derived from the 2011 code available from the Federal repository.
The online edition is actually legal tech/computation project.
It involves reconstructing the semantics of the Act from a rudimentary HTML version of the INA, and
developing ways to improve navigation of the statute. For example, the many terse references to other sections
usually require a feat of memory or frantic flipping back and forward in the text. If you hover the mouse over these
references in this edition, you will see the context of the other section without having to interrupt your reading.
And on the ipad - where you don't have a mouse, touching the reference while keeping a second finger on the screen
will give you the same effect. This is an ongoing project. The current public snapshot is useful, but not complete.
The edition is free to use. If you are an immigration attorney and find it useful, please let me know.
If you can offer me the experience I need, that's even better.