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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
231–240 of 527 posts
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#232Isn’t the green card risk based on a couple of items in the green card process The visa process and the person’s assertions to those visa questions For example - did you every x? And the required answer is No Let’s assume the person did commit X but answers No Years go by and the person gets a green card. The underlying assertion was a lie - therefore the whole stream of events later becomes questionable. The second…
You should read the actual questions on an I-485, they don't rely on declarations that any given organization is "terrorist" or anything like that.
Now, I think you're right that the statements are only required to be true at the time they were made. That said, if I can get you to look at the I-485 which one fills out to get a green card, and focus on the questions in Item Numbers 43.b. - 43.e, which cover what is essentially material support for a terrorist org, you will see that all of them relate to the group's actions. You can read the questions yourself here on p. 16 of the PDF for an I-485:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-4...
So the only way the truth of someone's statements could change over time would be if the groups they had given material support to (e.g. money or recruitment) had only engaged in things like assassination, kidnapping, hijacking, sabotage, destroying people or property with weapons or dangerous devices, etc. after the person had already turned in their I-485 form.
This isn't very likely to be the case for various Palestine-related organizations that are doing armed resistance, since that armed resistance has been going on for a very long time now. But I suppose it's hypothetically possible in the abstract, and I presume one would argue this at an immigration hearing, since they have to establish immigration "fraud" and parts of that depend on what you knew and when you knew it.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#233Hi Peter, thanks for always circling back to the YC community! I'm curious about LLMs for the legal system that can reference the law and help to guide individuals on the process they need to navigate. How much of Immigration Law do you think can be navigated independently by people? Obviously, unauthorized practices of the law would be illegal *but if it was permissible*, how critical are lawyers in Immigration Law…
I think that the drafting of documents/forms, the development/drafting of arguments, and the creation of letters of reference are rapidly being taken over by AI and I think within a year, immigration practice will look totally different. There are a number of companies doing very interesting things who are offering this service to would-be immigrants/founders. The immigration lawyer's role probably will be reduced to determining the best immigration path, advising on job changes and international travel, and navigating criminal law issues but the execution of applications probably will be handled almost entirely by AI with double-checking by the lawyer of course.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Promoting a declared terrorist organization isn't a gray area. Nor is abusing schedule 1 drugs but the felon seems to want his African buddy to slide on that one.
Promoting a terrorist organization is legal and well within the boundaries of free speech. It's just not cool, not a good look, and should be shamed into submission. Providing material support to a terrorist organization is where it crosses into criminal territory.
> Promoting a terrorist organization...
is not what Mahmoud Kahill (sp?) was doing.
He's was protesting the University of Columbia's support of Israel, who were engaged in a wildly homicidal campaign against his kin.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#235How 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.
> 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?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#236Hi Peter, Thanks for doing the AMA. I have a general question/request, but I understand if you think it is not a relevant topic for this AMA. A lot of people tend to equate foreign workers on work visas with "cheap labor", especially in the so called "white collar" jobs; even though there are things like labor market tests and/or minimum salary requirements which have to be satisfied for many employment based visas.…
My experience like all lawyers is in the end limited and limited to my clients and cases but I can tell you that for my corporate clients looking for talent, salary is usually the least important factor, meaning that they are not looking to pay the least but to find the best employee or at least a highly qualified employee. The competition for talent seems so fierce that my clients do not seem interested in lowballing great candidates. Now this might be limited to the high-end/"white collar" H-1B jobs, as you note above, and not the entry-level/grinder jobs.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no left wing in Israel, you are painting a false narrative. It is a fascist state run by thugs (much like ours, which is probably why they are so eager to sell out Americans to Israel). Children were bombed. They knew the kids were there and they bombed them. Often happily doing it knowing they'd slaughter hundreds to get one supposed terrorist. They bulldozed bodies. They tiktoked the destruction of univers…
The 2021 elections ended with a government of 61 seats, including 7 seats for Labor (left), 6 seats for Meretz (fairly hard left), 4 seats for Ra'am (Islamist), so 25% from what would be considered a "left bloc" from a Western viewpoint. Then Yesh Atid and Blue and White had 17 and 8 respectively, both centrists, so just short of 50%. So there most certainly is a left (albeit small) and a substantial centre. Israel h…
Seats mean nothing. If there is a plurality and any kind of left movement there, what opposition have they given to the right? AFAICT, Yair's biggest criticism was that the war was managed poorly by Bibi.
80% of Israeli jews support the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. People are arrested for saying the oppressed have a right to defend themselves. You see videos of IDF troops calling for the death of all Arabs while they are on vacation. You see them doing crimes against humanity in Gaza war footage. That isn't a healthy society, it isn't a society with a leftist movement. It is a fascist bloodthirsty society, run by thugs like Bibi, Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir.
Supporting them means you either naive or that you lack any morals. Which makes your "bad guy" accusation meaningless.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#238I have a Ukrainian refugee family under TPS, approved through 2027, staying in my guest house in Texas. There are rumors that the Trump administration will revoke the status of TPS peoples in the next month or two. If this happens, my understanding is that this will immediately turn them into illegal aliens, subject to deportation. Is my vague understanding true? Is there anything I can do to help them? I don't mind…
It's super scary and awful. Although unlikely to help, it's always worthwhile to look at employment-based visas for those in TPS status or pursuing asylum. Sometimes there are solutions. But to answer your question, my understanding is that those whose TPS status has been revoked would have little time to leave and that would set forth in the revocation order.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I'm reading this link and don't see that in the post. Is this the correct link? I do see in there a reference to Kymani James, so I did a search for him. I see that he posted incendiary comments online which he later recanted and were taken out of context when reported on. But, I don't see how your post indicates a connection to Mahmoud Khalil, and even if there was a connection, why this warrants detention and depor…
Perhaps you didn't read the subsequent tweets? Parts 2 and 3 follow the link I posted and clearly say what they believe.
And I never said it warrants detention and deportation. I'm just pointing out that Khalil is affiliated with a group that supports Hamas, and that he does not merely "protest for Palestine". It's well attested in the media that Khalil was a negotiator for the group but I can link a source below.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/03/13/columbia-s...
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#240This has been a very active and interesting AMA so thank you everyone. I will be stopping now and returning tomorrow morning to respond to all the unanswered questions and comments.