Immigration law determines whether a person is an alien, the rights, duties, and obligations associated with being an alien in the United States, and how aliens gain residence or citizenship within the United States. It also provides the means by which certain aliens can become legally naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship. Immigration law serves as a gatekeeper for the border of the nation, determining who may enter, how long they may stay, and when they must leave. Immigration lawyers represent persons seeking temporary and permanent residency (green cards) status in the U.S., those interested in obtaining U.S. citizenship through a process called naturalization, and clients facing deportation and removal. Immigration attorneys may also represent businesses seeking to secure temporary visa status for foreign employees.
Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama, situated approximately twenty miles west of the Georgia state line and eighteen miles north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County. Its name derives from Genesis 37:17: "let us go to Dothan. " According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 65,447, making it the largest town in this part of the state. Dothan is the principal city of the Dothan Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Geneva, Henry, and Houston counties (the small portion that lies in Dale County is part of the Enterprise–Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area); the combined population for the entire Dothan metropolitan area in 2000 was 137,916. The city serves as the main transportation and commercial hub for a significant part of southeastern Alabama, southwest Georgia, and nearby portions of the Florida Panhandle. Since one-fourth of the U.S. peanut crop is grown nearby, with much of it being processed in the city, Dothan calls itself "The Peanut Capital of the World."