Santa Barbara Immigration Lawyers INC.

Santa Barbara Immigration Lawyers INC. Your Trusted Immigration Experts Welcome to Santa Barbara Immigration Lawyers INC! Our head lawyer Kraig W.

We are a dedicated immigration law firm based in Santa Barbara, committed to helping our clients navigate the complex world of immigration law. Rice, certified in immigration law by the State Bar of California, is an active member of several esteemed immigration groups in the city. With a proven track record of success in the applications we’ve submitted, our team takes pride in guiding our client

s through their immigration journey. Whether you’re seeking assistance with visas, green cards, citizenship, or other immigration matters, we are here to provide expert support and help you achieve your status. Let us be your trusted partner in making your immigration dreams a reality.

“This measure doesn’t benefit the lawful immigration process. It devalues it by penalizing individuals who are in the co...
05/27/2026

“This measure doesn’t benefit the lawful immigration process. It devalues it by penalizing individuals who are in the country legally and already following the rules and procedures they have been asked to abide by. This change erodes the faith and trust necessary for an immigration system to function fairly by forcing immigrants who want to apply for permanent residency to rearrange their lives for an uncertain period of time and depriving them of the economic and political freedoms and opportunities they seek in this country.”

“Many of the conversations regarding immigration focus on the legality or illegality of a person’s entry. But in this case, we’re talking about people who entered by the book. How the U.S. treats the people it knows have entered legally is an equally important aspect of the conversation. What the Trump administration is proposing clearly isn’t intended to soon welcome them as new Americans but to send them away and leave them be stuck in an overseas paperwork purgatory they may never escape.”

Excerpt From
“Opinion | My family's green card saga shows the problem with Trump's new plan”
Annell López
MS NOW

The obvious goal is to discourage immigration altogether, and the implementation of this policy would lead to awful consequences.

“They found that deportations reduced employment among male, American-born workers without a college degree by 1.3 perce...
05/21/2026

“They found that deportations reduced employment among male, American-born workers without a college degree by 1.3 percent across four immigrant-heavy industries: agriculture, construction, manufacturing and wholesale.

The study found no evidence that wages increased.

There’s a simple economic explanation for this: Illegal immigrant workers in these fields are not necessarily substitutes for their American-born peers; they are often complements. That is, these jobs often depend on one another to exist.

The study is consistent with previous research…showing that immigration crackdowns dampen employment. The American Immigration Council estimated that immigrants generated about $1.7 trillion in economic activity in 2023 while paying hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes.

The administration say immigration crackdowns are good for native-born workers. A new study shows otherwise.

“Ross had entered the U.S. to start a new life with William B. Ross, a retired U.S. soldier she had met decades earlier ...
05/12/2026

“Ross had entered the U.S. to start a new life with William B. Ross, a retired U.S. soldier she had met decades earlier when he was stationed in France in the 1950s and she was a secretary at NATO. They married in April 2025.

After he died of natural causes in January, a dispute emerged over his estate. An Alabama judge found that Ross’ stepson, a U.S. federal employee, allegedly intervened to prompt her placement in immigration custody.

Her arrest in Alabama unfolded so quickly that she barely understood what was happening. Five men, who identified themselves as immigration officers, banged on her door and windows at 8 a.m. before handcuffing her and placing her in a vehicle, she said. She was still wearing her bathrobe, slippers and pajamas.

Ross said she continues to think about the women she met in custody, most of them from South America. Many were mothers separated from their children.

Her experience changed the way she sees the United States and its immigration policies, Ross said. Her husband was a Trump supporter and they used to watch Fox News together. But she was shocked to learn firsthand how immigrants are treated inside immigration facilities.

She used to view the U.S. as a “country of freedom, where people are not arrested based on how they look, and where those who are detained are treated fairly and with respect.” But the women she met did not deserve to be detained, she said. “Their only fault was to be South American.””

Excerpt From
“85-year-old French widow caught in Trump's immigration crackdown describes her detention”

The Associated Press

The 85-year-old French widow of a U.S. military veteran shares her experience in U.S. immigration detention.

“Roughly 60,311 people were being held in ICE detention as of April 4, according to the most recent data from the Transa...
05/10/2026

“Roughly 60,311 people were being held in ICE detention as of April 4, according to the most recent data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan research center at Syracuse University. Of those detainees, about 70.8% had no criminal convictions, either none at all or only minor offenses like traffic violations.”

“That first night after her arrest, every bed was taken. Araya-Davis was given a mat and told to find space on the floor, where she slept until a bunk bed opened up days later. Before she could settle in, she needed water.”

“Water was available from a single sink shared roughly by 150 women in her pod. What she did not have was a cup. Those had to be purchased through the commissary, an in-detention store where detainees with funds in their accounts can order basic items like hygiene products and snacks. Orders were placed Sundays and delivered Tuesdays. She had just arrived on Tuesday.”

“People think, 'Just apply for citizenship or a green card,' she said. ‘But when you actually try to figure out how to do that, you end up going in circles. There's no clear answer.’
It's why she continues to speak out publicly. She wants people to better understand how difficult the immigration system can be to navigate and why, she believes, reform is needed. Many people, she said, assume undocumented immigrants are "cutting the line," when in reality, the line is unclear, inaccessible or does not exist for them at all.

In many cases, she added, eligibility depends on having a qualifying family member or employer willing to sponsor them. Not everyone has that option, and even those who do can face years-long backlogs. For example, the federal visa bulletin, which tracks when certain immigration applications are being processed, shows that some petitions filed more than a decade ago are only now being reviewed.”

Excerpt From
“She grew up in Palm Springs from age 4. Then ICE arrested her”

The Desert Sun

Milena Araya-Davis grew up in Palm Springs and went on to college, a career and marriage. But her arrest by ICE upended her life. Hear her story.

“Immigration lawyers who have represented wealthy individuals are warning their clients against paying the $15,000 fee t...
05/10/2026

“Immigration lawyers who have represented wealthy individuals are warning their clients against paying the $15,000 fee to apply for the $1 million or $2 million visa that Trump has advertised, citing the lack of a congressionally established visa, ongoing litigation against the visa program and uncertainty about the tax implications for their clients. Seven immigration attorneys who work with the sort of wealthy clientele that the gold card program is meant to attract told The Washington Post that they have either steered clients clear of applying for the gold card or declined to assist foreigners who have already applied, recommending instead that wealthy people consider established, legal methods of coming to the United States.”

Even Melania’s former lawyer is warning people away from Trump’s program designed to make immigration easier for the wealthy.

The Trump administration also dispatched military lawyers to the immigration courts to help fill vacancies. One of them,...
04/27/2026

The Trump administration also dispatched military lawyers to the immigration courts to help fill vacancies. One of them, Christopher Day, became a whistleblower in March, telling Congress that the more streamlined training that incoming judges are getting today is “completely inadequate and highly biased,” according to a copy of the letter sent to Congressional committees. Day declined to comment through his lawyer.

Former judges said the hiring process previously took months, sometimes years. New judges would then spend five weeks observing court hearings, taking classes in immigration law and court management, participating in a mock trial at the EOIR’s Virginia headquarters, and practicing hearing cases with a mentor judge by their side. Some of the new judges are considered permanent employees, while others like the military attorneys were hired on a temporary basis.

There are currently 700 immigration judges nationwide to handle well over 3 million cases.

The right to seek asylum has been a bedrock principle since the aftermath of World War II, when Western nations shaped international treaties that said immigrants should not be deported to countries where they could be harmed or killed. Under U.S. law, immigrants may seek asylum if they fear persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or another specific reason that makes them a target.

The president is remaking courts to clear a backlog of asylum cases. Hires include an attorney for Jan. 6 rioters and a lawyer who championed Minneapolis ICE raids.

This is a ridiculous waste of resources. The only state licensed interpreter for 3 languages who has been here for 35 ye...
04/16/2026

This is a ridiculous waste of resources. The only state licensed interpreter for 3 languages who has been here for 35 years.

Meenu Batra, the state’s only licensed Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu interpreter, says she was treated ‘like a criminal’

“But a Washington Post analysis of the data shows that people with no criminal record still make up the largest share of...
04/04/2026

“But a Washington Post analysis of the data shows that people with no criminal record still make up the largest share of those detained. In all, 42 percent of those detained in the six weeks after Pretti’s death had no criminal record.”

“The shift to arresting large numbers of people with no charges or convictions started in June, when DHS surged officers in Los Angeles, the first of several large-scale raids in more liberal cities. Before that, migrants with no criminal record accounted for more than 20 percent of all arrests. But as DHS turned its focus to finding and detaining people in places like Chicago, New Orleans and Washington, the proportion of noncriminal arrests nearly doubled.”

Excerpt From
“Despite signaling change, ICE still arrests many immigrants with no record”

Emmanuel Martinez, Marianne LeVine
The Washington Post

Trump officials indicated that agents would take a more targeted approach after Minneapolis. New figures show large numbers with no criminal history are still detained.

By Maria Sacchetti“The Department of Homeland Security permitted a Mexican woman to return Monday to the United States a...
04/01/2026

By Maria Sacchetti

“The Department of Homeland Security permitted a Mexican woman to return Monday to the United States after a judge found her deportation was unlawful, a rare reprieve at a time when growing numbers of immigrants who arrived as children are being targeted for removal.”

“This has been one of the most painful experiences of my life,” Estrada said after arriving in California. “I followed the rules. I trusted the system. And for that, I was ripped away from my daughter, Damaris, without warning. I’m home now — but what happened to me is wrong, and it should never happen to anyone.””

Excerpt From
“DACA recipient returns to U.S. after judge finds she was unlawfully deported”

Maria Sacchetti
The Washington Post

Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez is among a growing group of immigrants targeted for removal after arriving as children and gaining protections in the Obama era.

“Today's ruling makes clear that we cannot be required to use local resources to enforce federal policies,” he said in a...
04/01/2026

“Today's ruling makes clear that we cannot be required to use local resources to enforce federal policies,” he said in a statement. ”

Excerpt From
“Judge throws out US Justice Department lawsuit challenging sanctuary laws in Colorado, Denver”
The Associated Press

A federal judge has thrown out a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit accusing Colorado and Denver of interfering with the enforcement of immigration laws.

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330 E Carrillo
Santa Barbara, CA
93101

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Friday 9am - 5pm

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