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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

300 points proberts | 3 comments | 14 Mar 25 14:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.633s | source

I'll be here for the next 6 hours. As usual, there are countless possible topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with but as much as possible I'd like to focus on the recent changes and potential changes in U.S. immigration law, policy, and practice. Please remember that I am limited in providing legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll try to do the same in my responses. Thank you!
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radicalbyte ◴[14 Mar 25 18:19 UTC] No.43365531[source]▶
How do you protect people visiting or participating in YC from ICE? There have been two dozen stories of random tourists being disappeared for no good reason from all over the US.

Given that the policy is in the very early stages of implementation we can expect those numbers to reach the hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands in the next few months.

replies(1): >>43367077 #
worik ◴[14 Mar 25 20:42 UTC] No.43367077[source]▶
> There have been two dozen stories of random tourists being disappeared for no good reason from all over the US.

Really?

That is frightening. I plan to be a tourist in the USA within a decade.

Can you expand on that?

replies(1): >>43367634 #
Alupis ◴[14 Mar 25 21:45 UTC] No.43367634[source]▶
It's BS. Random tourists aren't being "disappeared for no good reason". A "tourist" that overstayed by 2 years without applying for a Visa and/or started working here are being deported back to their home nation - in accordance with the law.

There's a tremendous amount of scaremongering, fearmongering, and misinformation being thrown about currently. Majority of it is very much over stated hyperbole.

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gm678 ◴[14 Mar 25 21:53 UTC] No.43367677[source]▶
> Canadian woman put in chains, detained by ICE after entering San Diego border

> She said the officer refused to allow her to go back to Mexico and ordered her to be detained. She was kept in a cold room at the border by CBP before being arrested by ICE, who placed her at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Mooney claimed in the middle of the night she, along with a group of 30 other women, was rounded up to get transferred to a facility in Arizona. CBP wouldn’t tell Team 10 the reason for Mooney’s detention, citing privacy restrictions.

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/never-seen-anything-s...

> A German tourist detained by US immigration authorities is due to be deported back to Germany on Tuesday after spending more than six weeks in detention, including eight days in solitary confinement. Both Germans were held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, a prison in San Diego, California. Brösche and Lofving had attempted to enter the US from Tijuana in Mexico on 25 January.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/11/german-tourist...

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Alupis ◴[14 Mar 25 22:17 UTC] No.43367877[source]▶
If you believe that's the entire story - walked across the border was arrested - then I have a bridge to sell you...
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acdha ◴[14 Mar 25 22:26 UTC] No.43367949[source]▶
If you were right, they could easily clear the record by actually charging her. In several of the cases, they held people for extended periods rather than letting them leave the country which they really shouldn’t be doing if they don’t have enough evidence for at least one charge.
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1. pandaman ◴[16 Mar 25 12:55 UTC] No.43378654[source]▶
Immigration proceedings are usually administrative, this is why people often proclaim that visa violations are as same as parking violations. So there is no need to charge as there is no trial and there is administrative detention among the punishments. On the same note, "immigration judge" is not a member of the Judiciary but an officer of the Executive branch and "immigration court" is an Executive office as same as DMV.

There are criminal charges possible but are not necessary to indefinitely detain and/or deport any non-citizen who appeared on the border.

replies(1): >>43382033 #
2. acdha ◴[16 Mar 25 20:33 UTC] No.43382033[source]▶
Again, my point is simply that if there were some more serious offenses as the person I responded to alluded they could easily respond to reporters saying this isn’t a simple administrative mistake.
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3. pandaman ◴[16 Mar 25 22:26 UTC] No.43383116[source]▶
You seem to be confused over the meaning of word "administrative". In this context it means that the matter is entirely in the hands of the executive power so there is no charging and no trial.