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.
Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 1,482 at the 2000 census. Newellton is 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake. Further south toward St. Joseph is Lake Bruin, another ox-bow lake, a part of which is the popular Lake Bruin State Park. The African American trombonist Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker was born near Newellton. Whittaker is among the honorees of the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday in Concordia Parish. His career took him as far as Canada and Great Britain as well as all along the Mississippi River delta country. Another Newellton native is C.B. Forgotston (born 1945), a lawyer in Hammond and a state government watchdog and political activist. Forgotston graduated from Newellton High School in 1962.