Tag Archives: immigration laws

GHIRP to Host 5-Year Anniversary Spring Festival Amid Threats to Immigrant Legal Services and Growing ICE Presence

HOUSTON, Texas, April 2, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP) will host its 5-Year Anniversary Spring Festival Fundraiser on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Dan Electro’s in Houston. The event will bring together community members and advocates to celebrate five years of impact while raising urgently needed funds to defend immigrants across the Galveston–Houston area.

Image caption: Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP) 5-Year Anniversary Spring Festival Fundraiser.

This year’s Spring Festival comes at a pivotal and deeply challenging moment. Across Texas and the nation, immigrant communities are experiencing an expanded and increasingly aggressive ICE presence, while funding for legal services programs face growing threats. Together, these forces are pushing more children, survivors, and families into deportation proceedings without access to basic due process.

Legal representation is often the deciding factor between safety and separation, but access to attorneys and legal information remains alarmingly scarce. Nationwide, tens of thousands of people face immigration court each year without an attorney. In Texas, the gap is even more severe. As of the most recent data available (December 2025), only 27.8% of immigrants in deportation proceedings in Texas had legal representation, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). National research consistently shows that immigrants with attorneys are up to 5x more likely to be successful in their case than those forced to navigate the system alone, underscoring how devastating the lack of counsel can be.

GHIRP exists to close that gap. The team provides free, high-quality legal services to immigrants, including survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and other crimes; detained and unaccompanied immigrant children; and individuals seeking protection from deportation. Immigrants in the United States do not have the right to a government-appointed attorney, even when their freedom, safety, or family unity is at stake. Without representation, many are forced to navigate one of the most complex legal systems alone, often with life-altering consequences.

“Now more than ever, our community needs strong, well-resourced organizations standing up to protect immigrants confronting an immigration system that is becoming more punitive and less humane,” said Chiqui Sánchez Kennedy, Executive Director of GHIRP. “As enforcement expands and funding for supportive programs is threatened, the need for legal representation is growing more urgent every day.”

Over the past five years, GHIRP has built a proven model of holistic, trauma-informed legal representation, helping children, survivors, and families navigate one of the most complex immigration legal systems in the world. GHIRP’s mission is to build a resilient, diverse community by providing comprehensive representation and holistic legal services to immigrants in the Galveston-Houston area.

The Spring Festival Fundraiser is designed to be both a celebration and a call to action. This family-friendly event will feature live music, multicultural food, kids’ activities, raffles, and community performances, while reminding attendees that private and unrestricted donations from the community are increasingly essential to fill dangerous funding gaps and keep life-saving legal services available to those in need.

Proceeds from the event will directly support GHIRP’s free legal services, helping ensure that immigrants in our community are not forced to face detention and deportation proceedings alone.

Event Details:

Dan Electro’s, 1031 E 24th St, Houston, TX 77009
Saturday, April 25, 2026
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Tickets, sponsorships, and donations: https://ghirp.org/events/spring-festival-2026-fundraiser/

About GHIRP

The Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project is a nonprofit organization of dedicated lawyers and legal professionals committed to providing high-quality legal services to immigrants in the Galveston-Houston area. GHIRP offers comprehensive representation and holistic legal support to protect the dignity, safety, and rights of immigrants.

GHIRP’s mission is to build a resilient, diverse community by providing comprehensive representation and holistic legal services to immigrants in need.

Website: https://ghirp.org/

Donate: https://ghirp.org/donate/

MULTIMEDIA:

Event Poster Image: https://ghirp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GHIRP-Spring-Festival-Sponsorhip-Guide-Digital-Final-2-6-2.png

GHIRP Logo: https://ghirp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GHIRP-Logo-Full-Color.svg

NEWS SOURCE: Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP)

This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP)), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. Image, if any, was provided by the news source and not this website or the wire service. Information is believed accurate, as provided by the news source, but is not guaranteed.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/ghirp-to-host-5-year-anniversary-spring-festival-amid-threats-to-immigrant-legal-services-and-growing-ice-presence/

Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles Case Changes U.S. Immigration Policy

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- The Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles, P.C., a full-service immigration law practice that handles employment, investment, and family immigration cases, has achieved a landmark victory for a client unfairly refused permanent residency. The case has also fundamentally changed U.S. immigration policy.

The firm's client, was a Japanese woman who overstayed her status by over a year and was subject to a 10-year bar on returning. She subsequently left the United States and reentered approximately 18 years before applying for permanent residency based upon her marriage to a U.S. citizen.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, noncitizens who accumulate more than 180 days of unlawful presence before leaving the United States cannot reenter until a certain period of time (three years or 10 years) passes. However, this INA provision did not address how the timeline would be affected if the person returned before the bar was lifted.

In this case, the 10-year bar had expired by the time she sought permanent residency in 2019, but USCIS denied her application, claiming that she had been required to remain outside the country during that time.

Her attorney, Michael Piston of the Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles, P.C., argued that she should not have been denied permanent residency because over 10 years had passed since her departure and she was now married to a U.S. citizen.

U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall ruled in favor of the client, agreeing that the bar expires after 10 years, even if the person is in the United States for most of that time.

On June 24, USCIS announced a policy change to comply with this and one other subsequent court decision, based upon this one, in addition to an unpublished Board of Appeals decision from the Department of Justice.

Under the new policy, the following rules and conditions apply:

* Noncitizens who depart or are removed after over 180 days of unlawful presence will not be considered inadmissible unless they apply again within three to ten years.

* Once they leave, the three-year or 10-year period begins and will run uninterrupted, regardless of where the noncitizen is located during that time.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Attorney Piston said, "This policy change would be great for our client. That means she could have been granted adjustment of status by the USCIS and she wouldn't have had to go through all these problems."

About the Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles, P.C.:

The Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles, P.C. is a full-service immigration law firm managed by award-winning attorneys. The firm, which represents individuals in employment, investment, and family immigration matters, has a legal team of attorneys with 80 years of combined experience and a track record of over 35,000 cases approved.

For more information, call (213) 375-4084 or visit https://immigrationhelpla.com/

RELATED LINKS:

https://immigrationhelpla.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/New-USCIS-POLICY-2022.pdf

The Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles, P.C., a full-service immigration law practice that handles employment, investment, and family immigration cases, has achieved a landmark victory for a client unfairly refused permanent residency. The case has also fundamentally changed U.S. immigration policy.

Related link: https://immigrationhelpla.com/

Culver City, California Becomes a Sanctuary City

CULVER CITY, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- At its March 27, 2017 meeting, the City Council of the City of Culver City adopted a Resolution to declare itself a sanctuary city. According to the Resolution, "The City of Culver City is a sanctuary city for all of its residents, and the City stands in solidarity with other sanctuary jurisdictions. The City reaffirms its commitment to welcome individuals with diverse backgrounds and will uphold and protect the human and civil rights of all individuals under the State and Federal Constitutions, regardless of immigration status."

"That is part of what it means to be a City of Kindness," said Culver City Mayor Jim B. Clarke.

The adoption of this Resolution is the latest in a recent string of actions by the City, the Culver City Police Department, and the Culver City Unified School District to support human and civil rights, such as:

1) The City Council's 2016 Legislative and Policy Platform, which "commits to pursuing a policy agenda that affirms civil and human rights";

2) the City's October 12, 2016 Resolution 2016 R-099 condemning violence and hate speech;

3) the Culver City Unified School District's November 22, 2016 declaration that every school campus is "a safe zone";

4) multiple statements from Culver City Police Chief Scott Bixby expressing the Department's commitment to protecting the rights of all persons, regardless of immigration status; and

5) the City Council's February 27, 2017 Resolution 2017-R014 supporting state Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), also known as the California Values Act.

"This is not a decision the City Council came to lightly, and it is always helpful when the community expresses their opinions on an issue," said Mayor Clarke. "Even though Culver City has not historically participated in the enforcement of immigration laws, it is important to cement our promise to protect the public's safety as well as the rights of all of our City residents, regardless of their immigration status."

The City of Culver City joins a growing number of cities in declaring itself a sanctuary city. According to the adopted resolution, Culver City will continue to "act in a manner consistent with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 9 Model State and Local Law Enforcement Policies and Rules."

Some of the City's current practices include not voluntarily releasing personal identifiable information to Federal immigration authorities and requiring judicial warrants before detaining any individuals at the request of Federal immigration authorities. The resolution also includes language supported by the Culver City Action Network (CCAN), a local advocacy group that promotes sanctuary policies. For questions about the City of Culver City's stance on immigration enforcement, please contact Community Relations Lieutenant Troy Dunlap at (310) 253-6258.

View Resolution (PDF): https://www.culvercity.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=7668.

About Culver City:

Culver City is a five-square-mile, urban community of 39,000 residents surrounded by the City of Los Angeles is and centrally located on the Westside near Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles International Airport. Culver City is particularly known for its well- run public school system, "small town" charm, growing high-tech and creative economies, and a dynamic downtown that is regionally known as a destination for restaurants, live theatre, and art galleries.

For more information, please visit the City's website at https://www.culvercity.org/.

*(CITY SEAL IMAGE: https://www.culvercity.org/Home/ShowImage?id=3641&t=635957071075770000)

At its March 27, 2017 meeting, the City Council of the City of Culver City adopted a Resolution to declare itself a sanctuary city. According to the Resolution, "The City of Culver City is a sanctuary city for all of its residents, and the City stands in solidarity with other sanctuary jurisdictions."