The New York Times reported this past weekend about an immigrant from St. Kitts named Joseph E. Joseph who registered to vote back in 1992, voted in every presidential election since then and because of what he referred to as “doing his his civic duty”, he now faces deportation. In the U.S., only citizens are authorized to vote in [...]

The Los Angeles Times reported today that a three judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted Ms. Lesly Perdomo’s petition for review and ordered that her case be remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to consider whether Guatemalan women constitute a “particular social group” and as such, be eligible for political asylum.  The court also ordered [...]

The New York Times reported today that the American Bar Association (ABA)called on Congress to overhaul the current Immigration Court system and create a new, independent court in light of pleas from immigration judges and lawyers who say the Immigration Courts across the country are overwhelmed under an increasing caseload. According to the article, Congress has debated overhauling the immigration laws to legalize status to millions of illegal immigrants for the [...]

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled recently and as a result clarified in the case of Matter of Martinez-Serrano, 25 I&N Dec. 151 (BIA 2009) that a conviction for Alien Smuggling is not necessary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to charge a foreign national with a ground of deportability under section 237(a)(1)(E)(i) – (Alien [...]

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), has made accessible to the public the Immigration Judge Benchbook. The pubic can now view the various reference materials Immigration Judges across the country use when rendering their decisions in deportation cases. The Benchbook was initially established in 1985 as a reference guide for Immigration Judges. In 2007, it was updated to bring together legal reasoning [...]

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced today that ten immigration judges were sworn in on April 24, 2009 at the EOIR Headquarters in Falls Church, Va. The judges were appointed by the Attorney General and they now join the ranks of over 220 immigration judges located throughout the 50 immigration courts nationwide. What [...]

A Notice to Appear (NTA) - DHS Form I-862 - is issued by the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) to initiate Removal (Deportation) proceedings.  The NTA is submitted to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (i.e. Immigration Court) having jurisdiction over the place of residence of the individual the USICE seeks to deport. There are 3 main [...]

Judge Earle B. Wilson FY 2002 – 2007, Orlando Immigration Court Judge Wilson was appointed as an Immigration Judge in October 2005. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1979 from Atlantic Union College, and a Juris Doctorate in 1989 from Howard University School of Law. Judge Wilson served as a senior litigation counsel [...]