Supreme Court
Board of Immigration Appeals Holds that Admission of Conviction Might not Trigger Stop-Time Rule
I have been an advocate of changing the Supreme Court’s decision that removal proceedings are civil and not criminal. The main reason being my argument is the fact that criminal law has infiltrated removal proceedings since the criminal grounds for removal have been expanded by Congress on several occasions. One of the problems in removal proceedings…
Read MoreSuppressing Evidence in Removal Proceedings
One of the biggest problems in removal proceedings is the limited circumstances under which a respondent could challenge the government’s evidence. Usually the Service tries to introduce unreliable evidence to support the respondent’s deportability. I have had several cases when the government tried t o introduce hearsay statements from unnamed sources. The problem is that the…
Read MoreBIA Rules that DOMA is no Longer a Bar to the Approval of Same-Sex Petitions
In a decision issued on Wednesday, the BIA remanded an immigrant visa petition to the District Director because DOMA is no longer a bar to the approval of same-sex petitions. In Matter of Zeleniak, 26 I&N Dec. 158 (BIA 2013), a United States citizen petitioned for his spouse. The District Director denied the petition in 2010…
Read MoreMotions to Reopen Removal Proceedings Under Vartelas
Congress passed an overhaul of immigration law in 1996. These changes became known as IIRIRA, short for the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Reform Act of 1996. One of the most important changes in that law was the changes in relief available for lawful permanent residents. One of the most prevalent forms of relief before…
Read MoreThe Impact of Supreme Court’s Upcoming Decision on Same-Sex Couples
As we await the Supreme Court’s decision regarding same sex marriage laws and California’s proposition 8, I thought I should post some notes on the potential implications of such decision in the immigration arena. Regardless of what the Supreme Court rules, the decision will sure have important implications on same sex couples with at least…
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