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.
Philo is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located 5.5 miles (9 km) northwest of Boonville, at an elevation of 331 feet (101 m). Philo is located in Anderson Valley in western Mendocino County. In the 2000 census, Philo had a population of 1,098. Situated along Indian Creek as it flows into the Navarro River, Philo is the home of KZYX, the local public radio station. Two small specialty lumber mills in Philo are all that remains of a once vigorous timber economy in Anderson Valley. Philo is the heart of the Anderson Valley wine region. (See Anderson Valley for a list of the region's winemakers. ) The first post office opened in 1888. The ZIP Code is 95466. The community is inside area code 707. Two versions of how Philo was named are current: first, that its founder Cornelius Prather named it after his favorite female cousin; second, that he named it for his former home at Philo, Illinois.