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.
Cold Spring is a village located in the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York. The population was 1,983 at the 2000 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville. The central area of the village is on the National Register of Historic Places as the Cold Spring Historic District due to its many well-preserved 19th-century buildings, constructed to accommodate workers at the nearby West Point Foundry (itself a Registered Historic Place today). The town is the birthplace of General Gouverneur K. Warren, who was an important figure in the Union Army during the Civil War. It was also the site of one of the world's largest Superfund cleanups, stemming from the disposal of nearly 150 metric tons of nickel-cadmium waste into Foundry Cove, Constitution Marsh and the adjoining Hudson River. This was committed during the mid part of the twentieth century by Marathon Battery Co. , which manufactured nickel-cadmium batteries for use in Nike missile guidance systems during the Cold War. In the late 1980s, due in part to the Clean Water Act, the SuperFund Act, and persistent interest by local citizens a plan was developed to clean the site and was enacted in 1994. By 1996 the major dredging operations were complete. Commuter service to New York City is available via the Cold Spring train station, served by Metro-North Railroad.