In The News

“Bruce Coane, an immigration attorney who practices in Texas and Florida, said the term “public charge” usually refers to someone who receives direct government aid, like cash assistance or funding for long-term care. The new policy would expand that category to include people who received an indirect government benefit, like subsidized insurance through Obamacare. From there, Mr. Coane said, the category could be expected to include any immigrant who has received any kind of government assistance – from a free bus pass to federal emergency relief after a hurricane. “This could really be expanded to all sorts of crazy things,” he said, adding: “This administration has become very creative in coming up with ways to deny and exclude immigrants.” — Trump planning to make it harder for legal immigrants to gain citizenship

‘Bruce Coane, an immigration attorney who represents Ortiz, said his case shows several changes in deportation priorities. Before Trump took office, he said, Ortiz wouldn’t have been questioned or arrested, and prosecutors wouldn’t have moved so quickly to deport him. “Under Obama, there was a concern about tearing families apart,” he said. “Everything seems to be very harsh now. The high-profile cases you hear about are just an example of what’s going on in the real world. They’re definitely becoming more frequent.”‘ — USA TODAY

‘As a government organization, your former employer has some protections under the law that help shield it from liability, says Bruce Coane, also a Houston employment attorney. And your former employer would likely defend itself in any suit by arguing that your former boss was telling the truth about your performance, he says. That raises a tough workplace issue: Most employers set tight limits on bereavement leave; however, grieving can be devastating and can alter one’s ability to work far longer than the standard three- to five-day leave. Whether a bereaved worker faces reprisal for any resulting performance slump usually depends on the front-line manager’ — THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

‘”I believe what the president is going to do is he’s going to open deferred action to everybody. In 2012, he opened it to young adults,” said Houston immigration attorney Bruce Coane. But Coane says he doesn’t expected all undocumented immigrants to qualify. He believes the deferred action-type of status the president is expected to unveil will only protect the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Immigrants who qualify would be temporarily safe from deportation and given permission to work, travel, and even get a driver’s license’ — NBC HOUSTON

‘Attorney Bruce Coane says there is no federal law banning such a demand for access. “Employers can ask pretty much anything they want, unless there’s a specific law saying they can’t. The employer or prospective employer goes on a Facebook page sees lots of party pictures from South Beach or bathing suit shots, an employer might deem that inappropriate. That could lead to a sex discrimination claim under existing federal law” said Coane’ — NBC

‘Houston immigration attorney Bruce Coane says we’re treating many of the kids like refugees. “Helping them find housing or otherwise getting situated in the country.” Coane says most of the kids are not from Mexico, they’re from Central American nations like El Salvador and Honduras’ — KTRH News Radio

‘ Attorney Bruce Coane of Coane and Associates, PLLC, has practiced immigration law for 15 years. He can’t remember a year with more changes. New procedures were being put on the books monthly, and even weekly, during 1997. Most of the changes were administered through the local Immigration and Naturalization Services office. “Frankly, this has been the worst year I’ve ever seen,” Coane says. “New rules and regulations were coming out almost weekly that would completely change the procedures and ways they were doing things in the local INS office in Houston. I remembered they changed one procedure two or three times in the office in one week. Then they announced it was not working, so they had to change it again. It’s hard to keep up with all of it.” Coane doesn’t blame the local INS office, though. Many immigration lawyers have come to the opinion that the demands — new and unwieldy as they are — are the only kind of compromise lawmakers on both sides of the aisle could make during the last legislative session.’ — HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

‘”They’re supposed to be looking for terrorists, but unfortunately they are picking up a lot of people who haven’t done anything wrong or are innocent or of Middle Eastern descent,” said Bruce Coane, an immigration attorney in Houston and past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Coane said he fears that at least one of his clients, mistakenly hauled in during the sweep, had his civil rights violated.
He represents a Jordanian legal immigrant who was picked up by the INS on Sept. 21. More than a week later, the INS admitted the man had been apprehended and detained without reason and should be released. Coane said he could not identify the man because INS proceedings are not public, but said his client had been convicted of two misdemeanors prior to receiving a green card, a document that allows noncitizens to remain in the United States legally. INS can use criminal convictions as grounds for detaining immigrants, sometimes indefinitely, or deporting them. But Coane said the INS knew about the misdemeanors before issuing the man a green card’ — HOUSTON CHRONICLE