Category: Crim Imm – Crimigration

All too often any criminal sentence imposed is considered the actual punishment in the Immigration context.  The Board of Immigration Appeals addressed this issue 15 years ago in Matter of Esposito, 21 I&N Dec. 1 (BIA 1995). “For purposes of section 212(a)(10) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(10) (1988), and its successor provision at section 212(a)(2)(B) […]

“The writ of coram nobis is an ancient common-law remedy designed “to correct errors of fact.” United States v. Morgan , 346 U. S. 502, 507 (1954). In American jurisprudence the precise contours of coram nobis have not been “well defined,” Bronson v. Schulten , 104 U. S. 410, 416 (1882), but the writ traces its origins to the King’s Bench and the Court of Common Pleas. United States v. Plumer , 27 F. Cas. 561, […]

In December 2006, in an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court reversed years of blanket rulings that held almost all drug crimes to be aggravated felonies. INA 101(a)(43)(B) defines an aggravated felony to include “illicit trafficking in a controlled substance (as described in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), including a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 924(c) of title 18, […]

Online Detainee Locator System –

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a decision in November 2009, Matter of Martinez Espinoza, 25 I&N Dec. 118 (BIA 2009) where it had to decide how drug paraphernalia offenses should be treated under the inadmissiblity provisions of the immigration laws. The Board did find that drug paraphernalia can render an alien inadmissible, but left open the possiblilty for a foreign […]

The much anticipated Online Detainee Locator System has just been released.  For my firm which is heavily involved in representing detained immigrants we hope this is an easier way for families and loved one, including lawyers to find the whereabouts of our clients in the opaque ICE.   The Law Offices of Ricky Malik, PC sometimes spend hours over many days investigating and trying […]

The State of Virginia, always at the forefront of the Immigration debate, is preparing to open one of the East Coast’s largest detention facilities in Farmville, VA. The facility will be used to imprison foreign nationals for immigration violations.  Many of the inhabitants of the facility would have once been free with their families before they encountered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Detention facilities used by ICE are often […]

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. White, 606 F.3d 144 (4th Cir. 2010) applied the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Johnson (wherein the Supreme Court held simple touching doesn’t constitute “physical force” under the Armed Career Criminal Act). The Fourth Circuit held that section 18.2-57.2(A) of the Virginia Code Annotated includes nonviolent force, such as an offensive touching, and that “violent force,” as […]

The Board issued a major decision in the Crimigration area holding: “The misdemeanor offense of assault and battery against a family or household member in violation of section 18.2-57.2(A) of the Virginia Code Annotated is not categorically a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) (2006) and therefore not categorically a crime of domestic violence within the meaning of section […]

In Johnson v. United States, the Supreme Court held that in order to constitute a “violent felony” under the relevant provisions of the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), the level of “physical force” required for a conviction must be “violent force-that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.” See 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(e)(1), (2)(B)(i) (2006). Simple battery under Florida […]