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.
Upper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger. Although the area has many rural, pastoral features, including horse farms, it is surrounded by encroaching housing developments and is the daytime county seat of Prince George's County, a large urban and suburban area of some 850,000 people adjacent to Washington, D.C. U.S. Highway 301 and Maryland Route 4 intersect at the edge of town. Major features of the town include the courthouse, jail, county office building, board of education, and a lake with walking path. Just to the south of town is the Prince George's Equestrian Center which is the location of the annual county fair, a major annual antiques show and the Show Place Arena on the former Marlboro racetrack grounds. This arena is used for events such as hockey games, circuses, rodeos, conventions, trade shows, and graduation ceremonies of many regional high schools, as well as daily overflow parking for county governmental employees, jurors, and visitors. In earlier times the town was a tobacco auction market, before tobacco farming nearly disappeared in Maryland. On November 3, 2004, a major fire badly damaged the roof and interior of the court house. Except for supermarkets, an Amish market, car dealers, and a Home Depot, all outside of town, the town and surrounding area have only minimal shopping; therefore, residents must travel to Bowie, Clinton, Brandywine, Waldorf, or Forestville to find department stores. Upper Marlboro is convenient to employees commuting to locations along Maryland Route 4 or US Route 301, such as Andrews Air Force Base and the Federal Census Bureau. The Town of Upper Marlboro is often mistaken for the unincorporated census-designated place of Greater Upper Marlboro, which surrounds the town with a population of nearly 20,000 in an area of 77 square miles (as designated by the post office).