Swanson Law Office

02/08/2026

Attorney Sue Swanson's interview with the ND Monitor regarding ICE Detentions in ND and Habeas cases filed in ND federal courts for detained foreign nationals.

Amid the flood of lawsuits across the country challenging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions, a trickle of cases are moving through North Dakota federal court.

03/24/2025

My fellow AILA members & I have taken a solemn oath to uphold the Constitution, conduct ourselves with integrity, and faithfully discharge our duties as officers of the court. The Trump admin's attack on immigration lawyers is unfounded & dangerous.

AILA President Kelli Stump and Executive Director Ben Johnson reject a chilling directive by the Trump Administration ordering sanctions, reviews, and stricter oversight of attorneys in asylum and immigration cases.

03/22/2025

Myself and my fearless immigration attorney colleagues are officially at risk of being detained and criminally charged for LEAGALLY advocating for our clients. This is a badge of honor that I am strong enough to wear.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUBJECT: Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court Lawyers

03/15/2025

Hats off to, and strong professional respect for, Senior D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell for protecting a law firm’s constitutional right to provide counsel and to challenge a vindictive executive order aimed at the law firm for representing clients President Trump personally despises.

In her opinion, she wrote “Regardless of whether the president dislikes the firm’s clients, dislikes the litigation positions the law firm takes in vigorous representation of those clients or dislikes the results Perkins Coie achieved for its clients, issuing an executive order targeting the firm based on the president’s dislike of the political positions of the firm’s clients or the firm’s litigation positions is retaliatory and runs head-on into the role of First Amendment protection.” And, adding zing to her ruling, she wrote: “This may be amusing in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where the Queen of Hearts yells, ‘Off with their heads!’ at annoying subjects and announces a sentence before a verdict. But this cannot be the reality we are living under.”

She not only reaches the indisputably right results but also educates other lawyers and the public at large about Trump’s authoritarian actions.

03/14/2025

Asking for assistance from all my fellow attorneys and supporters: Please call your Congressional House Member(s) to oppose US House Bill H.R. 875 that will make a foreign national with a DUI conviction (misdemeanor convictions included) both deportable and inadmissible to the US. Please advise that as an attorney and/or lay person, you DO NOT support this bill and to vote "NO" on US House Bill H.R. 875.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/875/text #:~:text=Introduced%20in%20House%20(01%2F31%2F2025)&text=To%20amend%20the%20Immigration%20and,impaired%20are%20inadmissible%20and%20deportable.

SEC. 2. INADMISSIBILITY AND DEPORTABILITY RELATED TO DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED OR IMPAIRED.
(a) Inadmissibility.—Section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(J) DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED OR IMPAIRED.—Any alien who has been convicted of, who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of an offense for driving while intoxicated or impaired, as those terms are defined under the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction, offense, or acts constituting the essential elements of the offense occurred (including an offense for driving while under the influence of or impaired by alcohol or drugs), without regard to whether the conviction or offense is classified as a misdemeanor or felony under Federal, State, tribal, or local law, is inadmissible.”.
(b) Deportability.—Section 237(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(G) DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED OR IMPAIRED.—Any alien who has been convicted of an offense for driving while intoxicated or impaired, as those terms are defined under the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred (including a conviction for driving while under the influence of or impaired by alcohol or drugs), without regard to whether the conviction is classified as a misdemeanor or felony under Federal, State, tribal, or local law, is deportable.”.

Text for H.R.875 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act

01/30/2025

Last week, kids, adults & families lost access to crucial legal information & referrals to pro-bono counsel with the DOJ’s halt of immigration-related programming. Learn more & urge Congress to insist the DOJ reinstate these critical programs. https://bit.ly/42C9SXF

I’m joining AILA to urge Congress & the DOJ to protect vital government-funded legal access and service programs for children, families, and adults that the Trump Administration abruptly halted. Take a stand in the fight for due process. https://bit.ly/42C9SXF

In this blog post, Kel White from the Acacia Center for Justice describes the programs halted last week after the Stop Work Order came out from the Trump Administration and how you can take action and contact Congress to advocate for the due process protections these programs offer.

01/21/2025

Birth Right Citizenship is a 14th Amendment constitutional right that guarantees US citizenship to ALL children born in the US, regardless of race, color, or ancestry. The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, overturning the Dred Scott decision that denied Black Americans the rights and protections of US citizenship. It was affirmed in US v Wong Kim Ark that children born in the US to immigrant parents are entitled to US citizenship. By unconstitutionally banning it, children will be born stateless, be denied healthcare, be denied the ability to obtain identity documents, and force them to grow up in the US as second class citizens with no rights or identity.

ALL of us are either immigrants to the US or come from family that immigrated to the US. We support the US Constitution of the United States that created a separation of powers between the Executive Branch, Congress and the US Supreme Court in order to preserve democracy, the rule of law, and not let any one branch (or person) have the power to destroy the fundamental principals of our democracy. The President of the United States does not have the power to suspend or override the US Constitution. Period.

Regardless of your political leanings, you should be appalled with President Trump's executive order. All of us must demand that our constitutional rights be upheld. When we stop doing this as a nation, we permanently damage our democracy. When we allow one person to pick and choose which parts of the US Constitution best serve him or a select group of people, we weaken the checks and balances in place to preserve our country, we weaken the rule of law, and we lose collectively as a nation. Today, it may not affect you or your family personally, but tomorrow some new executive order suspending a different constitutional right may. Please stand with me in preserving our Constitution, our rights, the rule of law, and our heritage as a nation in declaring that all people born in the US are our equals, deserve the constitutional rights they are born with and will never be anything but US CITIZENS!

10/24/2024

Its time to get out and vote! Immigration law is an integral part of America’s past, present and future. We also know that immigration law is complicated. My international clients know and appreciate one of our greatest rights as US citizens - the right to vote. It is what makes our nation great and it is one of our most important civic duties.

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet." -- Abraham Lincoln

"Democracy is based upon the conviction there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people." -- Harry Emerson Fosdick

If you are a US citizen, 18 years of age or older and haven't voted yet, I encourage you and ask you to cast your ballet this year for Kamala Harris. As a nation, we must protect the separation of powers designed to create checks against dictatorship and elect a leader who believes in and supports the democratic process, who has the temperament to rationally and factually deal with the challenges the President/nation will face, has the mental capacity and physical strength to lead, and who will make decisions that are best for the nation, not their personal self. That person is Kamala Harris.

Vote today. Vote Kamala Harris.

10/24/2024

I am once again working as a solo attorney at Swanson Law Office in Grand Forks, ND, working with clients in ND, through out the United States and world. I remain affiliated with Attorney Mai Moua at Moua Law Office in Minneapolis. I appreciate my clients loyalty, business and referrals. Please call Swanson Law Office for any immigration questions or legal advice you need!

04/07/2023

We are excited to announce that we have combined offices with Moua Law Office in Minneapolis! Check out our new website:

Our culturally diverse office can help you understand and navigate complex U.S. immigration laws.