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.
Lake Jackson is a city in Brazoria County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area. As of a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city population was 27,614. Lake Jackson is named after an oxbow lake of the same name on the outskirts of town. The lake in turn was named after the family whose antebellum plantation house sat alongside the lake; only very minor ruins of the Lake Jackson Plantation can now be seen in a park at the site. The city is the birthplace of famous Tejano superstar, Selena, rock musician Casey McPherson, and hometown of country music singers Cole Deggs and Shade Deggs of the group Cole Deggs & The Lonesome. The city has also long been the hometown of Ron Paul, the Congressman who represents Texas' 14th Congressional District .