Safe Haven in America: Battles to Open the Golden Door draws on nearly a quarter of a century of the author's practice in the immigration field. The cases presented, however, don't merely involve legal principles, but the human aspects of coming to America ? the happiness of a family and children, the results of fighting criminality and corruption, the hopes of safely expressing political, religious, or social beliefs . . . and sometimes, the very stark difference between life and death.

The fact that there are so many points of contention suggests that our immigration system is broken. State governments and future administrations have to be aware that there is significant collateral damage from political gridlock. Safe Haven in America: Battles to Open the Golden Door takes a look at immigration cases that are a part of the immigration question.

Most of these stories are people trying to stay in the U.S. under humanitarian grounds, with the federal bureaucracy trying to depart them by enforcing the regulations to the letter and ignoring their pleas.