Cases of note

September 2014

A respondent in Immigration Court was a victim of notario fraud where the notario advised the victim to not enter the courtroom. The respondent was ordered deported. Our firm filed a motion to reopen claiming exceptional circumstances in light of the notario’s history of harming immigrants. RESULT: GRANTED.

A foreign national was in the United States for his wife’s funeral and to care for their minor children. Upon our request and due to humanitarian factors present in the case, USCIS used its discretion and agreed to process his I-212 while he is present in the USA.

August 2014

ICE held a foreign national for deportation. The family of the foreign national asked our firm to reopen his case as his family feared he would be tortured or killed upon his return to his home country. An attorney with our firm filed a motion to reopen with the Board of Immigration Appeals alleging a change in country conditions. The BIA ordered the case reopened for our client to seek asylum. ICE agreed to issue a bond in the case so the foreign national could be released from custody.

July 2014

Our firm filed an application for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for a foreign national who was almost 21. Process was started in April 2014. Necessary findings based upon the evidence of abuse were obtained in May. In turn, the Immigration Court case was dismissed. USCIS adjudicated her green card application. The case was completed with a green card issued to her in July.

Prior Cases

USCIS claimed a US citizen was not a citizen but actually born in Mexico. Our investigation showed that only one piece of evidence indicated a birth in Mexico while all the other evidence indicated the birth happened in the USA. And, that evidence predated the evidence from Mexico. What happened in this case was that the father of the citizen incorrectly reported her birth to Mexican authorities. Rather than request a birth certificate upon the family’s return to Mexico he should have requested a registration of foreign birth from a Mexican consulate in the United States. USCIS appeared unlikely to properly weigh the evidence. The Department of State can also make citizenship determinations so a passport application was filed. RESULT: US PASSPORT ISSUED.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service unlawfully detained a Cuban immigrant at FCI El Reno for over a year. He appealed his case to the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which appeared favorably disposed to order his release. Just prior to oral argument, the US Attorney General agreed to release the detained immigrant from federal prison rather than risk the issuance of an unfavorable decision by the US Court of Appeals.

Please note that results may differ based on individual circumstances.