Popp & Bullman, Attorneys-at-Law

06/04/2026

My comment on this post:
June marks the 5 month anniversary since the MAGA Whitehouse ordered its paramilitary to attack peaceful demonstrators and mothers in SUVs in and around Minneapolis. Those who sacrified to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.

06/04/2026

Hey Everyone, check out my guest column in this month's issue of Bloom Magazine (page 12). I write about the issue of ICE Holds and the Monroe County Sheriff's ongoing litigation with Attorney General Todd Rokita. I will never understand the racist and xenophobic ideology of Indiana's GOP and, especially, Todd Rokita. Why has he expended so much taxpayer money targeting immigrants, immigration non-profits, and activists who fight for immigrants rights? As our local schools have to cut staff positions and tighten belts, I am enraged by the GOPs assertions that we do not have money to pay for schools, health care for children, and support for retirees and working families, alike, but we apparently have endless money for litigation and attacks on vulnerable populations. Indiana's GOP is corrupt. Todd Rokita is, in my opinion, morally corrupt and an unscrupulous man lacking in virtue and principles. I hope our Sheriff kicks his ass in court.

You can read the column online here, or pick up a magazine around Bloomington!

Read the June/July 2026 issue of Bloom above!Or find a copy of the issue here!2025–2026 Distinctively BloomingtonCheck out the 2025–2026 issue of Distinctively Bloomington above!Have something to share with us? Write a letter to our editor.Buy the ‘Bloom’ Book!Proceeds from The Killer Who Fe...

06/03/2026

I have been hearing from many people - clients and non-clients - who are concerned about the new USCIS Memo that seems to disfavor adjustments of status (meaning applying for a green card in the United States) over consular processing (applying from abroad). The memo seems to say that most people should leave the US and consular process and adjustments of status are "acts of grace" not intended to be used by most. This new memo only applies to people applying for green cards through family, employment, and the diversity visa lottery (not refugees, asylees, and other humanitarian-based permanent residence applications).

My position has always been that the memo flies in the face of the stated law - passed by Congress - to allow eligible individuals inside the United States to adjust their status. Specific people were excluded from this right (including anyone who entered without a visa or parole). But for those who entered with visas and were otherwise eligible, adjustments of status were what Congress preferred.

But this is not just my position. USCIS' own policy manual explains the history of why the adjustment of status process came to be - so people in the US did not have to consular process. Adjustment of Status was not an act of grace; it was the preferred method for people to get permanent resident status.

I'm not sure what fool at DHS wrote the crappy memo (or maybe it was Grok), but we know that more than 10,000 lawyers have left the federal government, so the best and brightest are no longer there. But whatever genius it was, they didn't even bother to read their own damn history of the provision.

A. PurposeSection 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows certain aliens who are physically present in the United States to adjust st

05/29/2026

These are the stories that need to be told (gift link).

Real people who did nothing wrong are suffering the extreme consequences of a "deportation at any cost," policy. This little boy should have been with his mother. Instead, he was brutally murdered.

ICE claimed Wendy Hernandez Reyes “abandoned” her son. In an extraordinary act, she was then allowed to return to the United States for his burial.

05/26/2026

It looks like DHS is coming for the Immigration Attorneys (again). "Immigration attorneys representing illegal aliens frequently coach their clients to conceal their past and even outright lie in their asylum claims."

No. Ethical Immigration Attorneys (and most of us are) do not coach our clients to lie or conceal their past (though "paralegals," "Immigration consultants," or "notarios" often do). But we do help our clients tell their stories in a coherent way, so the judge or Asylum Officers can see how our clients are eligible for asylum.

What more does this government want? They have taken away immigrants' legal status and then locked them in prisons because they are out of status. They have changed the rules on who could apply for bond to get out of detention, and then when the federal courts ordered bond hearings, the government ordered the judges to stop granting bond. They have made conditions in detention so terrible and dangerous, that immigrants give up and go home, even when home can also be deadly. They have purged immigration judges that looked at cases in a fair way, and, instead, appointed a bunch of temporary judges from the military, who have been told to deny asylum. They have made fundamental changes to asylum law through Board of Immigration Appeals cases (that come out multiple times per week), which restrict and change asylum law. But, yet, attorneys continue to win. So what's the next step? Accuse us of fraud and take away our licenses.

DHS released a new directive instructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to take additional steps to crack down on fraudulent asylum claims.

05/22/2026

The Trump Administration continues to stop LEGAL immigration. This was never about "Rule of Law," or getting rid of "dangerous" "criminal" immigrants. This was always about white supremacy and making the United States a Christian-nationalist country. Below is the message I had to send to all of my clients this morning because of a new, insane, USCIS policy, which is trying to end the ability of LAWFUL immigrants from obtaining their green cards in the United States. This policy - if it works - will force spouses of citizens who are lawfully in the US to travel abroad and obtain visas through a process that right now takes 2-3 years. Imagine how much longer it will take once all of the millions of people applying in the US send their cases to the department of state? Imagine the backlogs. And those who are denied here in the US - they will be put into removal/deportation proceedings.
---
You may have seen that this morning, USCIS issued a new policy memorandum that says that the agency will only be granting Adjustments of Status to permanent residence in "extraordinary" cases. The agency expects most applicants for permanent residence to return to their home countries and apply for an immigrant visa to re-enter as a permanent resident. According to the new memo, USCIS deems adjustment of status to be an "extraordinary" measure and allowed only through an "act of grace." This is, in fact, not the case. The Immigration Act specifically allows people who have entered on a visa or on parole to adjust their status, and there is a separate provision that allows the spouses, parents, and children of United States Citizens to adjust their status even if their visa or parole has expired. The Board of Immigration Appeals and the Courts have even held that a person who is an immediate relative of a United States Citizen should be granted an adjustment of status even if they entered the US on a temporary visa with the intention of staying and adjusting status. USCIS is wrong. There is no "loophole," as right-wing media is reporting.

The information we have as of today is limited, as the policy memorandum was just released. The memo completely turns on its head at least sixty years of immigration law and how the agency and the courts have viewed adjustment of status. I imagine that there will be lawsuits challenging this new memorandum.

There will be, without a doubt, many news stories about this change, as well as a lot of misinformation. As we receive updates, I will update here. Please do not rely on the media, AI (ChatGPT or others), or TikTok/Social Media for your information.

05/13/2026

Important Reminder: If you are on a visa that has expired, you could be detained by ICE (even if you have also applied for benefits like asylum). If this is you, you have the right to privacy in your home. That means that ICE may not enter your home unless you consent (i.e. open the door) OR unless they have a search or arrest warrant that is signed by a real judge (not an immigration judge or an immigration official). Make sure everyone in your home knows and understands that they should not open the door until or unless they confirm who is knocking.

Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Learn more here about your rights as an immigrant, and how to express them.

05/12/2026

I want to share this article, though I will probably be sued because this attorney is very litigious. I have know this attorney (Ally) for more than a decade (and considered her a friendly acquaintance/colleague for a part of that time), although I split with her around 6 years ago when I realized that her practice had turned from being a zealous attorney to doing what seemed to be shady things. She went on to earn $1.7 million from teaching other attorneys how to engage in the same shady business practices. Her practice model was what she trademarked as "Arreglar Sin Salir," meaning fixing your status without leaving the United States. Meaning - she allegedly filed a bunch of fraudulent VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) petitions and T Visa (victim of trafficking) petitions for people who were not qualified. She deemed her work a "milagro" or miracle because she could find a way to help people when the rest of us plebeian immigration attorneys could not. In fact, the rest of us knew that these clients did not qualify for legal status, and we advised them as such. Over the years, other attorneys have learned from her example and have promoted pathways to get status that do not involve the complicated process of traveling abroad to apply for permanent resident status. I have seen many prospective clients come to me with questions about "VAWA" or "Arreglar sin Salir." I try to explain why they are ineligible and how lawyers and notarios are trying to defraud them, but how can I fight someone promising literal miracles? I am posting this because I often discuss the dangers of going to notarios, immigration consultants, and other unscrupulous individuals who are not lawyers (or trained and accredited representatives). But I also want to recognize that not all immigration lawyers are good people. It is sad, but this is a fact we have to face. If you know someone who believes that they paid for a "miracle" and now do not have to leave the United States to get a green card through a family member, please encourage them to discuss their situation with a reputable immigration lawyer. It's very likely they were defrauded and will face deportation proceedings in the near future.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of nine former clients says Tukwila-based immigration lawyer Alexandra Lozano’s services were “illusory, negligent, and even fraudulent.”

05/06/2026

DHS commenced 47,900 new deportation (removal) proceedings in March of 2026, compared to 24,507 in March of 2025. Of those 47,900, DHS alleged criminal activity in only 55. Security or Terrorism charges were alleged in only 2 of those cases. Despite this huge growth in cases, as of December 2025, there were only 557 immigration judges (and probably fewer now), down from over 700. Each judge now has 6000 cases on his or her docket.

The case-by-case data also reveal the types of individuals DHS is increasingly targeting. DHS alleged criminal activity for only an additional 55 individuals it sought to deport, compared with an additional 23,347 individuals it alleged had violated some immigration provision such as overstaying a v...

04/29/2026

The greatest scam from the greatest scammers. USCIS has literally taken millions (if not billions) of dollars from immigrants and yet has knowingly failed to adjudicate their applications. Many of my clients have lost their ability to work or drive (as their licenses are limited to the validity of their work permits). Others will lose that ability soon. Many, many others sit in limbo, not knowing when their cases will move forward. Why? Because USCIS says these individuals come from "high risk" countries and it cannot do proper security checks. This is BU****IT. Almost all of the individuals I represent have been in the United States for years - and sometimes decades. They have gone through multiple background checks. The government has literally stolen their money and is now looking for a reason to kick them out. Well, makes sense. Isn't that the President's MO? Corruption breeds corruption.

Their experiences — of sudden financial insecurity, months of unemployment, and crippling anxiety — come as the administration seeks to restrict legal migration and boost mass deportation.