Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner
Deportation Lawyers & Immigration Attorneys Helping Families Nationwide
Politico reports that three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled unanimously on Friday that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio lacked legal standing to challenge President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Judge Nina Pillard wrote that the Arizona sheriff’s theories about how his office would be impacted by DAPA and …
In light of Mellouli v. Lynch, the Ninth Circuit found that the Nevada statute under which the petitioner was convicted for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia was overbroad, because it penalizes possession of paraphernalia in connection with substances not controlled under federal law. Thus, the court held that the petitioner was not categorically barred from …
Forbes reports on the current state of the EB-5 investor immigrant program and reauthorization efforts, stating “it seems doubtful that anything more ambitious than a short-term extension of the existing EB-5 program will be passed before the September 30th expiration date. The only problem with a short-term extension is that it will place the fate …
Today, USCIS posted a policy memorandum with consolidated and authoritative guidance on the L-1B program to be used by USCIS employees for all L-1B petitions pending or filed with USCIS on or after August 31, 2015. Included in the memo is a list of prior L-1B memoranda that are superseded and rescinded. Topics discussed include …
BALCA vacated the Certifying Officer’s denial and found that, although the ETA 9089 stated that the Employee Referral Program (ERP) commenced prior to the prevailing wage validity period, recruitment under the pre-existing ERP actually began within the prevailing wage validity period, when the employees became aware of the vacancy for purposes of making a referral. …
The Ninth Circuit granted the petition for review and remanded, finding that a conviction under California’s theft statute is categorically not a theft offense, and thus not an aggravated felony, because the statute is both overbroad and indivisible, and such a conviction is not susceptible to the modified categorical approach pursuant to Descamps v. United …
The Ninth Circuit held that the statutory criminal bar to judicial review, INA §242(a)(2)(C), does not strip the court of jurisdiction to review the denial of a procedural motion, such as a motion for a continuance, that rests on a ground independent of the conviction that triggered the bar. The court denied the petition for …
The Ninth Circuit granted the petition for review, holding that the petitioner was entitled to equitable tolling of his untimely motion to reopen, because his lawyer’s advice to pursue a form of immigration relief for which the petitioner was statutorily ineligible constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. The court remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals …
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a security directive prohibiting use by the public of electronic devices, including cell phones, cameras, laptops, tablets, and MP3 players, in EOIR space, encompassing courtrooms, entrances/exits, corridors, conference rooms, and waiting areas. Attorneys or representatives of record, active members of a State Bar, and DHS attorneys representing …
In a precedent decision issued today, the BIA held that where an applicant filed an asylum application before the May 11, 2005, effective date of the REAL ID Act of 2005, and, on or after that date, submitted a subsequent application that is properly viewed as a new application, the later filing date controls for …
Matter of D-M-C-P, 26 I&N Dec. 644 (BIA 2015) (1) Neither an Immigration Judge nor the Board of Immigration Appeals has jurisdiction to consider whether asylum-only proceedings were improvidently instituted pursuant to a referral under the Visa Waiver Program. (2) It is improper to deem an application for relief abandoned based on the applicant’s failure …
The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado denied motions to dismiss Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and unjust enrichment claims in a federal class action lawsuit filed by nine federal immigrant detainees against The GEO Group, Inc., a private prison contractor, alleging violations for unpaid wages and forced labor. This is the first …
The State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, has resumed immigrant visa processing in Sudan for the first time in nearly 20 years. Starting in July 2015, applicants for all categories of immigrant visas will be able to interview and process their visas in Khartoum.
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of a petition for a writ of error coram nobis, finding that the rule in United States v. Kwan—affirmative misrepresentations by defense counsel regarding immigration consequences of a conviction can constitute the basis for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim—survives Padilla v. Kentucky, is not controlled by …
The First Circuit vacated the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order denying the petitioner’s asylum claim and remanded for reconsideration of the credibility determination, finding that purported omissions and discrepancies upon which the Immigration Judge based an adverse credibility determination were consistently present in the record.