Success Stories

Catching Up On My Blogging

August 7, 2013 by Matthew

I’ve been enjoying the summer a little too much and I’ve fallen behind on my blogging. Here’s some of the things I should have been blogging about:

1. The Immigration bill – An immigration bill passed in the Senate, but appears to be going no where in the House of Representatives. House Republicans want to take a piece meal approach to immigration reform by passing several smaller immigration laws, rather than a single comprehensive immigration bill. House Republicans are also against a pathway to citizenship. It’s not clear at this point if there will be any immigration reform. For everyone who got excited about the Senate immigration bill, I am reminded of the School House Rock cartoon, I’m Just a Bill. Ultimately, the Senate immigration bill was just a bill. I have been getting calls from people asking about whether they would be covered by the “new” immigration law. I tell them that we don’t have a new immigration law – it’s just a bill and until we have an actual law, I cannot comment on whether anyone would benefit from it.

2. DOMA has been overturned! On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court decided Windsor v. United States, which struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). Windsor was not an immigration case. However, since DOMA was struck down, it can no longer be used to prevent same sex spouses from filing immigrant petitions. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service has announced that it is now accepting petitions filed on behalf of same sex spouses.

3. On June 29, 2013, I spoke at the AILA National Conference. I spoke on a panel entitled, “”Becoming an Effective Litigator: Making the Most of Your Client’s Day in Court.”

4. I’ve had some success stories the last two weeks. I had a client obtain adjustment of status. I had a client approved for naturalization. I had another client get her application for deferred action for childhood arrivals (“DACA”) approved.

Government Motion to Dismiss Denied

March 28, 2013 by Matthew

During the holidays, the Government submitted a motion to dismiss on one of my petitions for review that was pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Government argued that my client’s case should be dismissed because the court did not have jurisdiction. Litigating petitions for review is very difficult. One of the reasons for this is that not all cases that are lost at the Board of Immigration Appeals can be challenged in federal court as a petition for review. There are many complicated rules about what kinds of immigration cases that the court of appeals can hear in a petition for review. Normally, discretionary decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals cannot be challenged in a petition for review. The Government argued that I was challenging a discretionary decision, so that the case should be dismissed. However, there is an exception to that rule, which is that even if a decision is discretionary, the court can still hear a challenge to that decision if the argument is based upon a question of law or the constitution. I argued that the Board’s decision was not discretionary and even if it was, my client’s case involved both a question of law and the constitution. Earlier this week, the Second Circuit issued a short summary order denying the motion to dismiss and agreeing with me. Now my client will be able to continue his fight to stay in the United States.

Client Granted Adjustment of Status

March 6, 2013 by Matthew

One of my clients had an adjustment of status interview today. Her case had some unusual and complicated legal issues. We arrived at 9:15 AM for the interview at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration office at Long Island City. We didn’t get called until noon. Normally, an interview for adjustment of status is less than thirty minutes. Her interview lasted over an hour. Because the case was so complicated, the officer asked us to wait while she conferred with her supervisor. At 2:00, the officer called us back in for an additional thirty minutes. However, when it was all over, my client was granted a green card and had her passport stamped. Ultimately, it was well worth the wait!