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 […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reviewed the matter, wherein hundreds of Koreans received fraudulent green cards through the criminal conspiracy of a former officer of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”), Leland Sustaire. The Court found that it did not have jurisdiction when an Immigration Officer commits criminal fraud. The Court did leave open the possibility for the Executive […]
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 […]
From the USCIS Fact Sheet and Press Release: “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed for the first time a standardized fee waiver form in an effort to provide relief for financially disadvantaged individuals seeking immigration benefits. USCIS has published a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment on the proposed form – Form I-912, Request for Individual Fee Waiver. The Form […]
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 […]
On July 15, 2010, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it has approved 10,000 petitions for U nonimmigrant status (also referred to as the “U visa”) in fiscal year 2010. This is the first time that USCIS reached the statutory maximum of 10,000 U visas per fiscal year since it began issuing U visas in 2008. USCIS will continue to […]
