Immigration Law

Noncitizens Have No Right to Counsel in Deportation Cases, Mukasey Finds

Days before a new presidential regime will be in place at the White House, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey issued a written opinion (PDF) yesterday finding that noncitizens have no constitutional right to counsel in deportation proceedings. The attorney general’s opinion, which reverses a 15-year precedent established by Matter of…

Jan 8, 2009 9:47 PM CST

Federal Courts Want $14 Fee, But Delay Swearing In New Citizens

Federal courts in a number of major cities apparently are happy to get a $14.09 fee for each immigrant to whom a judge administers a citizenship oath. But several are not conducting citizenship ceremonies in a timely manner, according to a report by a government ombudsman. “In one of the…

Dec 17, 2008 6:29 PM CST

9/11 Fallout: The Next Round

N.Y. detainee says attorney general, FBI director to blame for prison beatings

Dec 2, 2008 2:50 AM CST

CIS Chief Counsel Says Policy Change Helped Stem Litigation Tide

The chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services isn’t disclosing what he told an Obama “parachute team” during transition briefings today. But his agency’s efforts to reduce a huge uptick in litigation were likely part of the discussion. Lynden Melmed tells the ABA Journal in an interview that when…

Nov 26, 2008 6:15 PM CST

Layoffs at Big Immigration Boutique; Fragomen Says Hiring to Be Curtailed

A New York-based law firm that bills itself as the nation’s biggest immigration law firm has reportedly laid off seven or eight associates in its U.S. offices, as well as an unspecified number of staff members. The layoffs at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy were “in selective offices, it…

Nov 21, 2008 10:43 PM CST

Court Interpreter Shortages Worsen, Especially for Rare Languages

Courts are facing a shortage of qualified interpreters even as they hear more cases involving parties who don’t speak English. Critics say the shortage of qualified interpreters is leading some courts to use freelancers who don’t have the proper training, USA Today reports. A lack of funding for training and…

Nov 20, 2008 7:15 PM CST

Memorandum to the Next President

To: The Next President of the United States From: H. Thomas Wells Jr., ABA President, and Thomas M. Susman, Director, ABA Governmental Affairs Office Re: Your First 30 Days in Office Date: November 2008

Nov 2, 2008 1:35 AM CST

AG Asks Whether Potential Deportees Have Right to Effective Lawyers

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has asked lawyers in three immigration cases to submit briefs on whether aliens have a right to effective assistance of counsel and if so, how they can enforce the right. The move comes as the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed immigrant Maria…

Oct 30, 2008 12:13 PM CDT

After Major ICE Raid, Iowa Hits Kosher Meat Plant With $10M in Labor Fines

A kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa has been hit with not quite $10 million in fines by the state labor commission for alleged violation of wage laws after a May raid on the plant by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in which about 390 people were arrested. At…

Oct 29, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

Lawyers Turn Poetic in Immigration Group’s Haiku Contest

Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook is something of a weighty book—literally—according to the winners of a haiku contest. Nonprofit groups designated by the winners will get a copy of the book, thanks to the contest sponsor, the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Two of the winning entries dealt with the weight of…

Oct 15, 2008 3:16 PM CDT

Second-Largest US Immigration Law Firm Created through Merger

The nation’s second-largest immigration law firm will be created in a merger on Jan. 1. The new 65-lawyer firm, Foster Quan, is the result of a merger between two Houston law firms, Tindall & Foster and Quan, Burdette & Perez, according to a press release. The new firm will be…

Oct 14, 2008 3:26 PM CDT

Kidnappings for Ransom, Both Real and Fake, Are Increasing

In a spillover of the criminal violence that is an increasing problem in Mexico, kidnappings for ransom—both real and “virtual”—are on the rise in Arizona. Often targeting immigrant families, those who pretend to be holding a beloved relative captive when in fact they are not apparently are purchasing names of…

Sep 24, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

Mukasey Gives Genital Mutilation Victim New Chance for Asylum

In a decision hailed by human rights groups, Attorney General Michael Mukasey has vacated a decision denying asylum to a woman who feared she would be forced to undergo another genital mutilation if she were forced to return to Mali. Mukasey’s action sends the case of Alima Traore back to…

Sep 23, 2008 11:55 AM CDT

Feds to Fragomen Firm: Oops, Never Mind About That Audit

Officials at the U.S. Department of Labor reportedly have called off their audit of a prominent immigration law firm they suspected earlier of improperly advising clients about labor certification applications. The applications are used to get “green cards” allowing foreign workers to become American residents, when a “minimally qualified” U.S.…

Sep 18, 2008 4:45 PM CDT

Immigration Lawyer Gets 1 Year for Falsifying Documents

A Connecticut lawyer was sentenced yesterday to a year and a day in federal prison for falsifying documents to help a client along the path toward legal residency. Jose del Castillo, 49, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of federal document fraud, reports the Hartford Courant. In addition…

Sep 11, 2008 4:52 PM CDT