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Author: Ilona Bray

Ilona Bray is an attorney who gave up the active practice of law to edit and author books and articles for Nolo. Her working background includes both solo immigration practice and working or volunteering as an immigration attorney with nonprofit organizations in Seattle and California.
Wait, What? Trump Wants MORE Legal Immigration?

Wait, What? Trump Wants MORE Legal Immigration?

Tucked within the 2019 State of the Union address, amidst Trump’s calls for a wall and pronouncements of a southern border crisis, was the following phrase: “I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally.”  That’s news to anyone who follows the (real) news. Contraction of legal immigration has been the administration’s stated priority from the start. In 2017, Trump announced plans to cut legal immigration by half. In…

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Want Your Charitable Deduction Back at Tax-Time? Push for Universal Charitable Deduction

Want Your Charitable Deduction Back at Tax-Time? Push for Universal Charitable Deduction

Any day now, Americans preparing their Forms 1040 are going to either learn or come face to face with a certain cold truth: their charitable deductions do them no good, tax-wise. (Unless they’re super rich, that is, but the super-rich don’t even prepare their own 1040s; their accountants will figure out the value of their gifts to nonprofit organizations.) It’s not that the charitable deduction is gone. The reason for this change is the doubling of the standard deduction that…

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TOP TEN NOLO ARTICLES FOR 2018

TOP TEN NOLO ARTICLES FOR 2018

Another year has passed, during which time Nolo continued to offer readers in-depth information about legal and practical matters. We’ve covered everything from buying a home to paying taxes to suing your neighbors,employers, and former friends. (Uh, not that we’re recommending all that litigation.) Which articles were favorites among Nolo readers this year? The drum roll please. Okay, enough drum roll: Will I Get Penalized for Working While Collecting Social Security Retirement? This topped the list last year, too! Do we…

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No, the Deported Mexican Nurse Did Not Win the U.S. Visa Lottery

No, the Deported Mexican Nurse Did Not Win the U.S. Visa Lottery

Consumers of social and other media have read a great deal this year about the plight of Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, a Mexico-born nurse who worked in Oakland, California treating cancer patients. Though she had tried to obtain a work-based U.S. visa, her past unlawful entry made that all but impossible. The only reason she was able to work and live in the U.S. was that she received temporary relief from removal (as a low enforcement priority) under the Obama administration. After…

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Holiday Season 2018 to Test How Much Donors Are Motivated by Tax Deductions

Holiday Season 2018 to Test How Much Donors Are Motivated by Tax Deductions

End-of-year giving traditionally gives struggling nonprofits a way to make up for any lost ground and get a budgetary boost into the new year. Starting with Giving Tuesday (November 27 this year), the public is treated to, or annoyed by, a chorus of messages from needy nonprofits. Despite any annoyance, many generous people respond, such that approximately 30% of individual giving happens in December. We are weeks away, however, from what could be a seismic shift. The timing of holiday…

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