Serenity Now!

Over the past several years I’ve been asked what I enjoy about being an immigration lawyer.  My response has always included that “I love the camaraderie of immigration attorneys and how the majority of us have similar passions and respect one another even when we disagree.”  You don’t see that in other areas of law. Typically lawyers are in court battling one another.  In immigration law, our adversary is always the government.  For this reason, the past year has been pretty difficult for me to comprehend.  With the heated debates on immigration reform and what should or should not be included in the bill advocates and attorneys are increasingly butting heads.  That is perfectly reasonable and expected.  However, the attacks have become personal and in some cases encroached into the realm of dangerous libel.  With immigration attorneys currently under attack in California by the state legislature, we don’t need to be cannibalizing one another.

What I’ve seen disgusts me.  It should disgust you as well.  I’m not going to name any names and that is not the point of this.  You know who you are.  We are witnessing social media-based personal attacks against lawyers, DREAMers and other immigration activists.  It really needs to come to a grinding halt.  Nothing is more disappointing than to see lawyers act like my 5 and 6-year-old girls fighting over the last Skinny Cow Ice Cream cone in our freezer. 

There is a modicum of respect that should be followed by anyone in this continual debate on immigration reform.  It does not have to become a personal battle.  Furthermore, you can make your point without attacking another person’s professionalism or passion for their work.  If you don’t like a person because of their differing views or something they have said you do not need to blast your thoughts out every time on Facebook or Twitter or on your personal blog.  That’s plain dumb.  Plus, the mass majority of us, while enjoying some of the back-and-forth with our popcorn in hand, have grown tired your endless personal debates.  We get it: you don’t like each other…move on to something new or just keep it your arguments in private chat-rooms, e-mails or messages.

So, please for the sake of all humanity I respectfully ask you to stop with the nonsense.  Thank you.