Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado denied motions to dismiss Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and unjust enrichment claims in a federal class action lawsuit filed by nine federal immigrant detainees against The GEO Group, Inc., a private prison contractor, alleging violations for unpaid wages and forced labor. This is the first time that a court has found that a for-profit immigrant detention contractor may be held liable for violating the TVPA.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: slave labor, Student Visa, trafficking crime, unpaid wages | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, has resumed immigrant visa processing in Sudan for the first time in nearly 20 years. Starting in July 2015, applicants for all categories of immigrant visas will be able to interview and process their visas in Khartoum.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Department of State (DOS), sudan | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of a petition for a writ of error coram nobis, finding that the rule in United States v. Kwan—affirmative misrepresentations by defense counsel regarding immigration consequences of a conviction can constitute the basis for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim—survives Padilla v. Kentucky, is not controlled by Chaidez v. United States, and does not establish a new rule of criminal procedure. The court thus found that Kwan could be applied retroactively to support the petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim, and remanded for the district court to evaluate the merits of the petition.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: chaidez, coram nobis, ineffective assistance of counsel, ninth circuit, padilla, padilla vs. kentucky, vacating criminal conviction | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The First Circuit vacated the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order denying the petitioner’s asylum claim and remanded for reconsideration of the credibility determination, finding that purported omissions and discrepancies upon which the Immigration Judge based an adverse credibility determination were consistently present in the record.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Adverse Credibility, asylum, BIA, board of immigration appeals, first cirucit, Immigration Judges | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
BALCA reversed the denial, finding that the omission of a Spanish language requirement in the Notice of Filing (NOF) was not by itself fatal to the application where the overall text of the NOF was sufficient to apprise U.S. workers of the job opportunity.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA), employment petition, nof, notice of findings | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The Associated Press reports on the recent First Circuit decision in a lawsuit alleging Fourth Amendment violations, finding that federal immigration authorities must have probable cause to issue an immigration detainer. The ruling affirmed last year’s decision by a federal judge in Rhode Island, who denied summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity to an ICE agent and his supervisors who allegedly detained the naturalized U.S. citizen plaintiff in 2009 without probable cause.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: detainer, fourth amendment, immigration detainer, probable cause | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
A USCIS policy memo provides final guidance on when a petitioner is required to file an amended or new H-1B petition following the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) precedent decision in Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC. The memo includes information on how to become compliant with Simeio, and USCIS states that it will consider filings for changes in the place of employment that occurred on or before the Simeio decision to be timely during a safe harbor period, which runs until January 16, 2015.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: #amend h-1b, amend h1b, h1b, USCIS | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The Third Circuit upheld the BIA’s decision and denied the petition for review, finding that an immigrant who is admitted as a lawful permanent resident on a conditional basis (“conditional LPR”) qualifies as “an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence” for purposes of the aggravated felony bar under INA §212(h).
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: 212(h), admitted to US, aggravated felony, aggravated felony bar, LPR | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
A Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC) report found that the most recent data tracking the processing of “women with children” cases showed that the odds of being deported decreased by more than fourteen-fold when the women and children had legal representation in immigration court. Of the 12,266 such closed cases as of June 2015, only 2.3% without representation were allowed to remain in the United States, with the immigration judge issuing a deportation order 97.7% of the time. In contrast, for the 2,003 “women with children” cases with representation, 32.9% were allowed to remain in the country, with 67.1% receiving a deportation order. Interested in getting involved?
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: Deportation | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian D. Lerner, Immigration Lawyer & Deportation Attorney
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of the petition for review, finding that INA §241(a)(5)’s plain language, relevant regulations, and analogous case law compel the conclusion that immigrants whose removal orders are reinstated following illegal re-entry into the United States may not apply for asylum.
Filed under: Immigration Attorney | Tagged: asylum, fifth circuit, Illegal Reentry, reinstated removal order, removal order | Leave a comment »
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