Matthew — Page 4

Free the ICE Detainees!

March 24, 2020 by Matthew

When I was in law school, I went to a job fair where I met the managing attorney of the New York City Office of Prisoners Legal Services of New York. He told me that a correctional officer had just died because he contracted tuberculosis from an inmate. It blew my mind that something that happened in prison could impact the outside world. I ended up doing an internship there and volunteering there after law school. The COVID-19 pandemic reminded me of the CO who died of tuberculosis. ICE MUST RELEASE ALL DETAINEES. This is not just for their safety, but the safety of the staff at the detention facilities. If there is an outbreak of COVID-19 at an ICE detention facility, there will be mass infections. Not only will the detainees be infected, but the staff as well. The staff will then take it home to their families and so on . . . Moreover, the Government will be responsible for the health care of any detainee infected with COVID-19. RELEASE ALL ICE DETAINEES. Let them post bond. Put them on ankle bracelets. Don’t keep them detained where they will be susceptible to a COVID-19 outbreak.

My Strange Discovery

November 17, 2015 by Matthew

In September, I posted on my website that I was suspending doing consultations until after my oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on November 3, 2015. Despite the fact that my website asked people not to call me about free consultations until after the oral argument, I was receiving 3-5 calls about free consultations a day. I would ask the callers how they found out about me, they would tell me the “internet.” When I inquired further, I discovered that they did a search on Google for “free consultation” – they saw my name and number in the search results and called without ever going to my website, let alone reading any of the information on my webpage.

I am frustrated by people who call immigration lawyers without reading their websites. I don’t understand why anyone would call an immigration attorney without fully reviewing their website first. When I had to hire a web designer to set up this website, I reviewed their websites before calling them. Before you call an immigration lawyer, I would think that you would want to know their background, their experience, and the types of cases that they take. I have a detailed website, so that someone looking to hire an immigration lawyer can find out these things out about me.

It doesn’t just bother me because it’s inconvenient for me to get calls from people who ask about services that I don’t provide, it bothers me to see people take such a careless approach to finding an immigration attorney. I constantly hear horror stories from clients about how their former immigration lawyers mishandled their cases. If you don’t research an immigration lawyers’ background before calling them, you have no way of knowing that you have found a good lawyer who will do a good job on your case. I think that it is very foolish to call any lawyer without first reviewing their website or making some kind of other effort to check out their background.

Information About My Case in the U.S. Supreme Court

November 17, 2015 by Matthew

On November 3, 2015, I argued an immigration case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The transcript and audio for the oral argument are on-line. If you are reading this and you’re thinking of hiring me for your deportation case, listening to the audio will show you what I can do in court.

Since it’s an open case, I prefer not to comment about the case. Although, I will say that it was a dream come true to be able to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. This was my first time ever arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court. This meant a lot to me because I’ve twice lost out on opportunities to argue before the Supreme Court.

In 2007, I was part of a team of lawyers that won a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit called Blake v. Carbone, 489 F.3d 88 (2d Cir. 2007). At the time, Blake was considered an important decision and it was expected that the Solicitor General’s Office would file a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court challenging the Second Circuit’s decision. However, they did not. A few years later, the Supreme Court decided Judulang v. Holder, 132 S.Ct. 476 (2011), which involved the same issue as Blake, but from a case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In 2008, I won a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit called Martinez v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 532 (2d Cir. 2008). Once again, it was expected that the Solicitor General’s Office would file a petition for a writ of certiorari challenging the Second Circuit’s decision. However, they did not. A few years later, the Supreme Court decided Moncrieffe v. Holder, 133 S.Ct. 1678 (2013), which involved the same issue as as Martinez, but from a case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Since I won Blake and Martinez, it was hard for me to watch other lawyers litigate issues in the Supreme Court that I had litigated first in the Second Circuit. Not being able to argue Blake and Martinez before the Supreme Court made this experience even more special for me. I finally got my chance to argue before the Supreme Court.