On June 28, 2018, in a 5-to-4 vote, the Supreme Court upheld President Trump's ban on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries. The court held that the ban had a “legitimate grounding in national security concerns” and was thus constitutional. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that the President had ample statutory authority to make national security judgments in the realm of immigration. The chief justice rejected a constitutional challenge to Mr. Trump’s third executive order on the matter, issued in September as a proclamation. What does the ban actually do? It indefinitely suspends the issuance of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas to applicants
On July 4th, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will celebrate the nation’s 242nd birthday and the day the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776. USCIS marks Independence Day with naturalization ceremonies across the country. This year, USCIS will welcome more than 14,000 new citizens in nearly 175 naturalization ceremonies between June 28 and July 10.
On June 17, 2018, Ms. Simone Williams, Managing Attorney with Williams Global Law, moderated a discussion on International Trade, Business and Cybersecurity: Viewpoint from Senegal in Dakar, Senegal. The esteemed panelists discussed "Hot Button" trade and business issues affecting Senegal and West Africa at large, and how these issues impact doing business in the region. The panelists were: Gina Wood, Legal Officer with Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA); Omar Arouna, Founder and CEO Global Specialty, LLC and Past Immediate Ambassador of Benin; John Ffooks, Senior Partner with John W. Ffooks & Co.; and Mouhamed Kebe, Managing Partner, Geni and Ke
On June 21, 2018, Simone Williams served as a guest lecturer to talk about “The Basics of U.S. Immigration Law” for a select group of Howard University School of Law (HUSL) students. The students are participating in an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)/Rule of Law Externship in the Dominican Republic for 6 weeks this summer with Professor John Woods. We wish safe travels and much success to Professor Woods and the HUSL students!
Ms. Williams was a member of the National Bar Association (NBA) international delegation trip to Ghana and Senegal in June 2018. The NBA is the largest association of African American attorneys and judges in the United States. As part of the trip, the group met with US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson; and foreign service officials at the US Embassy in Senegal. The group also met with local judges and attorneys in Ghana and Senegal; and executive members of the Ghana Bar Association and the Senegal Bar Association. There were so many amazing highlights of the trip --- some are captured by the pictures below.
