AT LEAST once a week, someone comes into my office panicking because their spouse or other relative has been picked up and detained by immigration authorities. The relative was arrested and placed in one of the county jails where Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains those with immigration violations.

This can happen in many different ways. The most common situation is where someone is pulled over by police for a traffic violation. If they are driving with no license or are under the influence of alcohol, etc., the officer will place that person under arrest and take them to the police station for booking. Depending on the time of day and how many hours are spent at the jail, it is possible that an ICE officer will be there to take fingerprints. If the prints come back showing that they are undocumented, they will place a “hold” on their record. Once the criminal matter is resolved, ICE will typically take custody and transfer them to a detention site.

IT IS hard to believe that we will be greeting a new year in less than three weeks. If you are like me, you are in the midst of Christmas-related hustle and bustle, trying to prepare for the holidays and the end of 2011. While it is the season of celebrating and being grateful for what we have, including our families and friends, it is also a season of reflection. Was year 2011 a good year? If I were to venture a guess, I’d say most people would view this year as difficult one, considering the economic problems, “occupy” movements throughout major cities, and political intrigues related to the next year’s presidential election.

But amidst the bleak future, I wish to stress that there is always hope, especially when it comes to developments in immigration law. While a comprehensive immigration reform still remains to be an elusive possibility, there are reasons to be hopeful, especially as we are on the threshold of the New Year. I specifically want to draw your attention to two developments.