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Family Of Teen Shot On Mexican Side Of The Border Can Sue Agent

, Posted in Immigration Law

A Mexican teen who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the Mexican side of the border had some constitutional protections although he was not an American citizen and he was killed on Mexican territory, albeit just across the border. Accordingly, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hernandez v. Mesa, No. 11-50792 (5th Cir. 2014) held that the child’s family could sue for wrongful death on the grounds that the decedent’s  Fifth Amendment due…

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Recent Guardianship Case Illustrates Plight Of Kids From Central America

, Posted in Immigration Law

As thousands of children - many unaccompanied by adults - cross America’s southern border to flee danger in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, a recent appellate case originating out  of a family court in Nassau County, New York  illustrates the plight facing some of the youngsters in the region. The appeal involves whether the mother of children who fled violence in El Salvador can be appointed guardian under a statute which could eventually…

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Prior Sham Marriage Can Jeopardize Later Bid For Residence

, Posted in Immigration Law

A Lebanese man came to the United States lawfully in 1999 under a H-1(b) work visa to work for his sponsoring employer, Carolyn Pickett. Subsequently the man, Elias Eid, married Ms. Pickett and lived together. But when, after Ms. Pickett and Mr. Eid filed the applications for him to be granted permanent residence in the United States, they withdrew the applications after immigration officers questioned the legitimacy of the marriage. Both Eid and Pickett then gave…

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Independence Day Brings Naturalization Ceremonies Across The Country

, Posted in Immigration Law

For thousands of immigrants who soon will be able to call themselves “American citizens this Fourth of July will be remembered as the time in which they finally achieved that vaunted and highly desired status. After months, and in many cases, years of awaiting action on petitions, submitting to interviews by immigration officials, hoping to hear good news from their attorneys and studying to take the examination necessary to become a citizen in this country, scores…

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Avenue For President To Issue Orders Reducing Deportations Arises

, Posted in Immigration Law

Political leaders in Washington have apparently slammed the door on any chance for achieving comprehensive immigration reform in 2014.  Last week John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, reiterated to the President that the House would not be passing an immigration reform bill because he does not believe the President was “faithfully executing the laws. The Speaker does not view the record number of deportations as proof that President Obama will enforce the laws…

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U.S. To Provide Legal Counsel To Kids Found Crossing The Border

, Posted in Immigration Law

The Obama administration announced a plan last week to establish a program to provide legal counsel to the children who have recently crossed over the southern border of this country. Over 47,000 children have fled their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, at their parents’ behest to avoid the persecution facing residents in those Central American countries. When they arrive across our border, few can speak English, most have not bathed in days or…

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California Supreme Court Grants Admission To Practice Law

, Posted in Immigration Law

In a landmark decision issued earlier this year, the Supreme Court of California affirmed a decision of that state’s Committee of Bar Examiners – a part of the State Bar of California – to allow an undocumented immigrant to practice law in that state.  In making its decision in In re Garcia, that Court noted that section 1621 of title 8 of the United States Code (hereafter “section 1621) generally restricts an undocumented immigrant's eligibility to obtain…

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Program To Work In North Mariana Islands Extended

, Posted in Immigration Law

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has for the last five years maintained a guest worker program of employment for foreign workers to work in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. One of five island territories of the United States, the North Mariana Islands was exempt from American immigration laws until November 28, 2009. The USCIS implemented the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program. Until earlier this month, that program…

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Immigration Activists Suggest Primary Election Loss Should Speed Clock

, Posted in Immigration Law

Rarely does a single primary election for one seat in the House of Representatives where less than 75,000 voters cast ballots seem to have such large reverberations in the political realm. The recent defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia may shift the dynamics of the debate over comprehensive immigration reform.  Prior to the June 10, 2014 election, conventional wisdom in Washington DC suggested that, after Mr. Cantor vanquished his relatively unknown opponent in…

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Deportee Must Show Counsel Provided Ineffective Assistance Before Plea

, Posted in Immigration Law

The United States District Court in New York refused Charmaine Brown’s pro se plea for extraordinary relief seeking a vacation of her 2011 conviction for importation of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The Court, in Brown v. US, No. 11-cv-3443 (SLT). (Dist. Ct. ED NY 2014), rejected her writ of error coram nobisunder the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) on the ground that she did not prove…

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