The Immigration Mastermind Carlos Batara

As I visited a book store the other day, I gravitated to the Classics Literature section.  Glancing through the selections, I paused when my eyes reached Dante’s Inferno, a literary masterpiece about one’s spiritual journey through nine rings of hell. 
That was not the book’s only message, as it also illuminated the suffering of exile and leaving behind what a person loves most.  
Although composed over 1,000 years ago, it remains applicable to the plight of Central Americans migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. who must overcome their own nine rings of hell.
Related Podcasts:
Episode 87: Why Immigration Reform Depends On (Defeating) Smuggling
Episode 123: The Immigration Danger Of False Friends
Recommended Links For More Information:
Why The U.S. Must Grasp The Root Causes Of Central American Migration
Central American Children Refugees: A Failure To Plan Ahead

The concept of hardship is used in all sorts of immigration cases.
Yet, nowhere is it defined in immigration law.
Why?
Because it’s one of those terms incapable of a tight clarification.
If you feel puzzled, you’re not alone.
Related Podcasts:
Episode 40: Ditch Robotic Hardship Formulas
Episode 95: Hardship Insights For Immigrants Without Lawyers
Recommended Links For More Information:
What Happens To U.S. Citizen Children Forced To Relocate?
The New USCIS I-601 Hardship Waiver Guidelines – What Are The Differences?

I’ve long subscribed to the marketplace of ideas.
As former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote back in 1919, “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.”
I agree.
No one can lay claim to alone know the truth.  And to the extent truth is left untested, it tends to become rigid dogma. 
Why, then, in a nation which presumably prides itself on free speech, do people speak over others, refusing to listen to what others have to say?
Related Podcasts:
Episode 21: Trickle Down Hate
Episode 43: Immigration Karate Chops
Recommended Links For More Information:
The Anti-Immigrant Propaganda War
Why The One-Party Blame Game Is An Outdated Political Anachronism

The number one issue I hear when people talk about 601 waivers pertain to  economic and financial concerns.
Immigrants and their spouse almost instinctively equate hardship with monetary issues.
And that’s natural.
But it’s too short-sighted. 
Related Podcasts:
Episode 66: Unclaimed Immigrant Income Taxes
https://immigration-mastermind.captivate.fm/episode/immigrant-seniors
Recommended Links For More Information:
Four Insights About The Economic Contributions Of Immigrants
8 Tips For Winning Your I-601 Family Unity Hardship Case

Language bloat.
Sentences that go on forever. Words you’ve never heard before.
Phrases you don’t comprehend.
Lawyers are especially guilty.
This cancer – writing and speaking in ways that others do not understand – often shows up at court hearings. 
Related Podcasts:
Episode 89: Beware Misleading U Visa Advertising
Episode 80: A Lawyer And His Mother
Recommended Links For More Information:
Why Do Lawyers Talk Like That?
The Hidden Immigration Danger Of Deceptive Social Media Advertising

Many experts will tell you community activities of the immigrant are not important to whether a I-601 waiver is granted or denied.
They’re wrong, flat out wrong.
It's especially effective for immigrants who have lived in the U.S. too long without permission.
It transforms the perspective of that time from a negative to a positive.
Related Podcasts:
Episode 102: Immigrants Do Not Come To America To Steal Jobs
Episode 42: Cookies And Immigration
Recommended Links For More Information:
Beware The Role Of Discretion In I-601 Hardship Waiver Decision-Making
Immigrants Who Give More To Others Than They Ask For In Return