The U.S. has agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by eleven immigrants as a result of their arrests after ICE conducted a series of immigration raids in their houses in 2007. The immigrants involved will not be deported. This is the largest settlement ever paid by the United States and immigration lawyers are touting the court settlement as a landmark victory [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that Haitian nationals who were in the U.S. on or before January 12, 2010 (the day the 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged that country) can submit their applications for Temporary Protected Status  (TPS) begining tomorrow.  The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will publish the details as to where to submit the applications either [...]

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced this past weekend that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is now authorized for Haitian nationals.  The regulations will be published in the Federal Register as soon as possible. The eligibility requirements for Haitian TPS are the following: Be a national of Haiti, or a person [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that in the wake of Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive to temporarily stop all deportations to Haiti.  This was a joint decision made by the DHS Secretary Napolitano and Assistant Secretary Morton of the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE). This decision does not grant Haitian immigrants Temporary Protected [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that an earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter Scale ravaged Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere yesterday afternoon. The United States and other countries along with the International Red Cross began to organize relief efforts and gathering supplies to send to Haiti. In light of the circumstances, Haitian immigrants who are in the U.S. [...]

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 [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) headquartered in New York City, reported recently that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) has been increasing their practice of transferring immigrants facing deportation to remote detention centers thus hampering their ability to defend themselves against deportation. Human Rights Watch published an 88 page report titled, “Locked Up Far Away: The Transfer of Immigrants to Remote Detention Centers in [...]

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled yesterday in Matter of Portillo-Gutierrez, 25 I&N, Dec. 148 (BIA 2009) that a step-child who meets the definition of a child under the immigration laws, is a qualifying relative for establishing exceptional and extremely unusual hardship for the purposes of cancellation of removal as a defense from deportation. The Immigration Judge who heard Mr. [...]

The New York Times  reported today that asylum seekers are filing more claims based on sexual orientation. The U.S. immigration laws allow aliens to be granted asylum  if they can prove a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. The claim of sexual orientation [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that Haitian-American and immigrant activists who supported President Obama’s election to office are now becoming frustrated with the his failure to push for legislation to provide Temporary Protected Status  (TPS) for Haitians. Back in July of this year, the President was quoted in saying: “He was ‘very sympathetic’ to the community’s request to allow Haitian immigrants now [...]