Category: Removal & Deportation

One of the most brutal and punishingly tools in immigration’s arsenal is being able to detain foreign nationals and specifically deeming them as Mandatory Detainees.  After years of adverse decisions, there is some relief in light of repeated Circuit Courts rejecting the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) draconian interpretations. On June 23, 2010, the BIA held in the Matter of […]

The Virginia Attorney General issued the following: ” It is my opinion that Virginia law enforcement officers, including conservation officers, may, like Arizona police officers, inquire into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested; however, persons tasked with enforcing zoning laws lack the authority to investigate criminal violations of the law, including criminal violations of the immigration laws of the […]

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 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals joined the Second and Sixth Circuit to affirm the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision in Matter of Briones, 24 I&N Dec. 355 (BIA 2007).  The Fourth Circuit determined that an applicant who seeks to adjust status under INA 245(i) (8 USC 1255(i)) does not automatically over come INA 212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I)’s bar.  INA 212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) deems a foreign national inadmissible if […]

It seems that this decision can have far-reaching consequences.  The concept of admission and being admitted forms one of the cornerstones of adjusting status in the United States to Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR or green card status).  This decision could open the door allowing TPS holders to adjust status based on their “admission” pursuant to INA 244.  Or possibly for […]

“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 Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) determined on April 30, 2010 in Matter of ALANIA, 25 I&N Dec. 231 (BIA 2010) that a foreign national who is eligible to adjust status, in other words receive a greencard, through Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, cannot be denied due to unauthorized employment. Section 245(i) was a provision of the law […]