My expertise is computers and networks, not law. But I had been called in to work on a network at a local immigration attorney’s office, and I found a busy office right in the middle of a recession of historic proportion. I’m glad they are busy; otherwise they might not have had this work for me.

It’s just a regular Monday morning at the office of an immigration lawyer in San Jose, CA. The telephone rings, and I hear the secretary apologize that the next available appointment isn’t for nearly a week. She basically has to say the same thing over and over in different ways, likely because that isn’t the answer the desperate person on the line wanted to hear. Unfortunately, people don’t usually get around to calling an attorney until they are running out of options. They need help immediately.

San Jose, California is at the heart of the “immigration law” market, not only because it is near the agricultural areas of Salinas and Gilroy, but because it the “capital” of Silicon Valley. During Silicon Valley’s prosperous times, high tech companies brought in engineers from overseas. These immigrants, here on work visas, are now finding themselves out of work and subject to deportation. I did find it a little odd that one of these out of work immigrants could still afford to send both his children to a Bay Area private school.

Immigration attorneys are now being sought to help these people stay. That’s the business cycle for you. Whenever one industry is going bust, another may be booming. You just have to be in the right line of work at the right time.