The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled earlier this week in Matter of Carrillo, 25 I&N Dec. 99 BIA (2009), that in determining whether an alien whose status was adjusted to lawful permanent residence pursuant to Section 1 of the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA), is deportable as an alien who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that after being held in detention for 11 days for failure to appear for a deportation hearing before the Immigration Court in Miami, Mr. Janos Lutz, the father of a U.S. Marine serving in Afghanistan has been freed from the Krome Detention Center in Miami and, is required to wear electronic ankle monitoring bracelet under the [...]

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Matter of Martinez, 25 I&N, Dec. 66 (BIA 2009) ruled yesterday that an individual who is a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) and, who meets the definition of a battered spouse may be eligible to apply for Cancellation of Removal as a form of relief against removal (deportation) pursuant to the Violence Against Women [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that an Immigration Judge in Florida terminated deportation proceedings against an Egyptian man named Yousef Megahed who was acquitted earlier this year of terrorism related charges and ruled that he should not be deported. Mr. Megahed was not immediately released following the judge’s decision.  His attorney, Charles Kuck said his client would likely remain [...]

The Houston Chronicle reported that the Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by former President Bush to verify the immigration status of every person that is incarcerated in the local jails. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) implemented a program called Secure Communities.  The program is currently in 48 counties in seven states.  The USICE plans to expand it to all jails and prisons by [...]

The U.S. Customs & Border Protection (USCBP), one of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’) largest and most complex components, has a two-fold mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. plus, having the responsibility of securing and facilitating trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. immigration and drug laws. We represented an individual today [...]

The Los Angeles Times reported that the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will be the first in the state to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into the county jail system as part of a national effort to identify and deport immigrants with criminal records. Law enforcement officials in the 3 counties will [...]

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 [...]

If you in the country illegally, you can expect at some point to be served with a Notice to Appear (NTA) before an Immigration Judge. The NTA should included a date, time and place at which you must present yourself before an Immigration Judge or risk deportation in absentia. This tutorial briefly describes the Immigration [...]

A deportation notice (called a Notice to Appear or an NTA) means the United States’ government wants to remove you from the country. All deportation cases are handled by the Executive Office of Immigration Review, also known as Immigration Court. Immigration Court The USCIS will assign an experienced government trial lawyer to prosecute your case (i.e. prove that [...]