Immigration lawyer Margaret Wong Works Tirelessly for her Clients
By Douglas Wu

Margaret W. Wong
Margaret W. Wong & Associates
3150 Chester Ave.
MWW Center
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
(216) 566-9908
Columbus office:
(614) 221-8892-Appointment Only

In a little over two decades of practice Margaret W. Wong and her firm Margaret W. Wong & Associates Company, LPA has developed a national and international reputation in immigration law.

And she is an example of the promise this country offers its immigrants from around the world. In the late 1960s 19-year-old Wong left her native Hong Kong with younger sister Cecilia, a scholarship and enough spending money to see her through the first semester at Iowa’s Ottuma Heights College. The school is an all-women Catholic junior college.

Wong went on to earn undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry from Western Illinois University and a law degree from the State University of New York, Buffalo.
She founded Margaret W. Wong & Associates Company, LPA 25 years ago that first took cases in a number of areas of the legal profession but in a matter of years it began to specialize solely in immigration cases.

Wong, prior to starting Margaret W. Wong & Associates Company, LPA, worked in New York City for a year and a half after earning her law degree and membership in the New York Bar Association. Wong joined the New York Bar Association in 1976.

In 1977 she came to Cleveland to work as a credit analyst for Cleveland Central National Bank. She held the position for one year before starting the law firm.

“We provide full services,” Wong said about her firm’s services. “We do a lot of litigation cases.”

Today the firm’s five attorneys, and a total staff of 40, handles between 2,000 to 3,000 immigration cases a year. “It just grew and grew,” Wong said. And of the cases the firm agrees to handle, the success rate is 95 percent. “It’s a very results orientated law firm,” she said. Aside from the firm’s Cleveland office, it also has offices in Detroit and Columbus. The firm opened the Detroit office two years ago and the Columbus office three years ago.
Wong’s role in the firm is as an intake specialist.

“My job is to advise clients as a value added service.” Wong said sometimes she advises her clients not to go to the government to resolve their immigration statuses if she believes their cases are unlikely to be decided in their favor.
Many of the firm’s clients are gained through word of mouth. “I think it’s just reputation,” Wong said. “You name it, they know it. Our clients are very smart people.”

In her years of practice Wong has had to deal with changes in the immigration laws. The current immigration law is the result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Former President Bill Clinton signed the act into law eight years ago.

Wong said the 1996 immigration act’s toughness applies to criminal issues and misrepresentation of social security numbers and etc. Wong added the act really does not affect Asians because that immigrant group normally does not misrepresent themselves or violate the laws.

In light of 9/11 and the recent presidential election, immigration laws may again change. Wong said she does not know what kinds of changes are in store but, possibly, immigrants here illegally may achieve some sort of work visa status. Wong explained that could make it easier for the government to keep track of immigrants. Also, in the future state and federal agencies will become more proficient in sharing information about immigrants.

Currently, changes in the arrangement of government agencies are making it harder for people outside the country to gain entrance into this country. “Why did they put immigration in homeland security?” Wong asked. “It should be in commerce.” The decision to place immigration in homeland security makes immigration a security issue for the country. “They’re identifying immigration with terrorism,” she said. “Terrorism should be identified with law enforcement. Not all immigrants are terrorists.”

Today it is particularly hard for immigrants to obtain student visas and tourist visas, Wong said.
Despite the country’s current view on immigration, immigrants to this country have an easier time compared to immigrants to other countries.

“The whole world is against immigration,” Wong said. “When you consider how many countries wouldn’t let foreigners come in, American immigration policy isn’t that bad.”
The appeal of this country for immigrants is still strong as it was years ago when the times were different and opportunities seemingly more abundant. “Everybody has an equal chance of becoming successful,” Wong said. “It’s more difficult but doable, absolutely.”

Her suggestions for people who want to come to this country include preparing résumés, including awards and commendations, passports and saving accounts. Also, Wong said immigrants to this country have to have the mindset to be tough and to survive. “Come with an open mind about the land,” Wong said. “America is a beautiful country, let’s not spoil it. It takes at least five years to become somebody, to be comfortable in your own skin.”

Wong resides in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Her sisters Cecilia and Rose and her brother George all reside in the Cleveland area. Wong’s 85-year-old mother also lives in the area. She and her husband, a pharmacist, have a son and a daughter. Their son is a second-year student at Brown University and their daughter is a first-year student at Miami University of Ohio.

Wong, when she is not hard at work, likes to do Chinese chirography, swimming, knitting, mentoring young people and taking part in church activities.

In May 1998 Wong received the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom for her achievements and contributions to the country. Among Wong’s many other awards and commendations, this year Cincinnati Magazine named her as a “Super Lawyer.” It is a distinction bestowed on 5 percent of Ohio’s lawyers.

Also, Wong is a National Council Delegate for the Federal Bar Association. In 2000 Wong earned induction into the Ohio’s Women’s Hall of Fame. She was the first Asian-American president of the Cleveland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. And she is a charter member of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Continuing Legal Education Commission for attorneys.

Currently, she is a part of the commission’s Racial Task Force. Two of Wong’s many awards are for philanthropy: the Margaret Ireland Award from the Cleveland Women's City Club and the 1997 Creative Philanthropy Award from the Women's Community Foundation.

Wong has served on many boards in the Cleveland area including Notre Dame College, Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, Northeast Ohio Commission on Higher Education, Cleveland Bar Foundation, Ohio State Bar Foundation, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Asian Bar Association, Town Hall, University Hospitals Health System, United Way Services, and the Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University Law School Advisory Boards. She is also a member of the Eighth Judicial District Court and the Federal Sixth Circuit Court for life.