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.
Leonardsville is a hamlet on the Unadilla River in the Town of Brookfield in Madison County, New York, USA. The community started as a number of small factories deriving power from a dam on the Unadilla River during the first decade of the 1800s. These were known locally as the shops and included a scythe and hoe factory, a blacksmith shop, a grist mill, a saw mill, a horse rake factory and wagon shop, and a foundry and machine shop. As with many small communities, Leonardsville was given its name by the Post Office Department, which in this case named if after Reuben Leonard who, in the early years, ran a local grocery and dry goods business that became a convenient location to drop off mail for local residents. In 1856, the grist mill, saw mill and agricultural implement factory were destroyed by fire, but were rebuilt immediately. Soon after that, the shops were purchased by the Babcock family who operated them until the 1930s, employing at their peak over 100 workers. Until the 1950s, when the manufacturing shops closed, Leonardsville was a stop on the Unadilla Valley Railroad, had a milk station (now a recycling center) and a feed store. None of the manufacturing buildings remain, but the former Crandall Department Store still stands and is now the regionally-known Horned Dorset Restaurant. Leonardsville had its own kindergarten through 12th grade central school until 1969, when the district merged with Bridgewater and West Winfield, creating the Mount Markham Central School district. The building was one of the new district's elementary schools until 2001, but now is used for specialized educational programs.