Latest and Greatest - U.S. Immigration Made Easy

U.S. Immigration Made Easy

BY Ilona Bray, J.D.

Published by Nolo (17th Edition, 2015)

KF 4819.85 .B72 2015

Did you know the Harris County Law Library has a self-help collection full of easy to understand resources that help self-represented litigants learn about the law? Well, we do, and it features materials published by Nolo, the Houston Bar Association and Texas Young Lawyers Association.

In connection with Immigration Law Resource month, we are proud to feature U.S. Immigration Made Easy, now in its 17th edition from Nolo. This book helps you navigate through the immigration process from staying legally in the U.S. to obtaining a green card or visa. There are chapters that discuss the ways of getting a green card, such as through a family member already residing in the U.S., through a U.S. citizen fiancée, through employment, as an investor, or as an asylum seeker or refugee.

U.S. Immigration Made Easy also explains the visa process and the various types of visas available to non-immigrants and those looking to remain temporarily in the country. This edition also contains new information about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and its eligibility requirements.

If you want to know more about U.S. immigration laws for yourself or you are a new attorney or paralegal who wants to learn more about an unfamiliar area of law, take a look at U.S. Immigration Made Easy.

Thurgood Marshall Exhibits Available During National African American History Month 2016

Justice Thurgood Marshall was one of America’s most accomplished and important jurists. As an attorney, he argued more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than anyone before or since. A powerful and successful advocate, he prevailed in 29 of his 32 cases before the Court, including the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the “separate but equal” doctrine was declared “inherently unequal.” In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the bench as a judge for the U.S. Second Court of Appeals. Four years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Marshall to serve as U.S. Solicitor General. In 1967, Johnson turned to Marshall again, this time appointing him to the U.S. Supreme Court where Marshall served as an associate justice for the next 24 years.

In his January 29, 2016 Proclamation, President Obama proclaimed February 2016 to be National African American History Month and charged librarians “to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.” The staff at the Harris County Law Library can think of no more appropriate activity than to honor perhaps the most influential African American lawyer in U.S. history and the first African American to rise to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court— Justice Thurgood Marshall. This month, visit the Law Library’s downtown location to view an exhibit celebrating Justice Marshall’s legal career and accomplishments. You can also visit our website to view the accompanying digital exhibit featuring links to resources about Justice Marshall’s life and legacy.

Latest and Greatest - The Family Lawyer’s Essential Tool Kit

The Family Lawyer’s Essential Tool Kit, 2015 Edition

Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas

KFT 1294 .Z9 F36

Looking for a handy family law reference guide? Look no further than The Family Lawyer’s Essential Tool Kit published by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. An indispensable resource, the Tool Kit has all of the tools you need to handle every aspect of a family law matter. From the Texas standard possession schedule and tax tables and minimum wage charts for computing child support to trial preparation materials, this resource has it all.

Not sure how to make objections at trial? Don’t worry. The Tool Kit has a handy list. Inside, you can also find an oral deposition reference sheet, evidentiary predicates, presumptions, generic examination outlines of expert witnesses, an outline for attorney’s fees, and information about the enforcement of orders. So, what are you waiting for? Come on down to the Law Library and have a look at one of our newest acquisitions.

Texas Law Blogs from Texas Bar Today

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Blogs make it easier than ever to get news tailored to your professional interests delivered to you every day. For lawyers in Texas, the question isn’t “where do I find Texas legal news?” It’s “how can I parse through so many Texas law blogs to find news for my practice area?” Texas Bar Today comes to the rescue!

Blog List

Texas Bar Today is a service of the State Bar of Texas that organizes a list of over 160 blogs focusing on Texas law and curates top posts on its website. The list has categories ranging from specific practice areas to “Hobbies & Humor” to help you find blogs tailored to your current-awareness needs. Staff at Texas Bar Today read posts from all the blogs daily to bring you the best from around the state and post the top posts to the TBT homepage.

Get Your News Delivered

You have several options for getting the best blog posts from Texas’ legal community delivered to you each day. The usual options include an RSS feed and the ability to follow on various forms of social media. However, the best option for doing as little work as possible to have the best in Texas legal news delivered to you daily is to submit an email address to receive a daily digest of the top blog posts in your inbox. Visit the Texas Bar Today homepage for more on available delivery options.

Court Watch – U.S. v. Texas - Immigration case before the U.S. Supreme Court

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Photo from the Library of Congress Photos, Prints and Drawings Collection

Since it is Immigration Law Resource Month here at the Harris County Law Library, we thought we would fill you in on one of the more important immigration law cases facing the State of Texas in recent memory. In February 2015, Texas took the lead in the case State of Texas, et al. v. United States of America, et al., in which 26 states sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies from executing a DHS program titled “Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents” (DAPA). Under DAPA, four to five million undocumented immigrants who met certain criteria would be granted stays in deportation proceedings. After finding that at least one of the plaintiff states could suffer direct damage from DAPA and had Article III standing, the Court moved to the merits of the case, primarily whether the DAPA was constitutional and was legally adopted.  The Court granted the preliminary injunction, holding, among other things, that defendants had enacted a substantive rule without complying with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

After failing to get a stay, the Government appealed the preliminary injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (Search Doc. No. 15-40238). The Court affirmed the lower court’s order, finding that Texas not only satisfied the injury requirement for Article III standing, but also was likely to succeed on the merits of its APA claims. In January 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari. So far, no date has been set for oral argument, but it is worth keeping an eye on.

If you would like to read more about this case, check out SCOTUSblog for recent discussions or read the amicus briefs found on the website for the National Immigration Law Center.