Immigration Law

On a Thursday in November of 2013, Guadalupe Morales waited anxiously with her sister-in-law and their four small children. Every Latino man who drove away from their shared apartment above a small auto repair shop that day had failed to return - arrested, one by one, by ICE agents and local police. As the two women discussed what to do next, a SWAT team clad in body armor and carrying assault rifles stormed the room. In Separated, William D. Lopez examines the lasting damage done by this daylong act of collaborative immigration enforcement in Washtenaw County, Michigan.

The O-1B visa is a subcategory of the O-1 visa, which is for individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement. What makes the O-1B visa—which is for artists and people working in film and television—unique is its flexibility. While other visas have strict or rigid requirements, the O-1B is more fluid. Recognizing that the arts span a wide array of disciplines, USCIS has minimal definitions and broad evidentiary requirements. This is advantageous because it enables artists from diverse disciplines to apply to work in the United States.