Miami CIS - Orlando CIS

I have now been to the new digs of Orlando and Miami CIS. They are awesome! The offices are large, with ample waiting rooms and plenty of room for people to wait inside (!!) out of the heat and rain while they wait to get in. When will it be Tampa's turn to have the new great office?

My sources tell me that Tampa CIS is close to moving, but they do not know where. Maybe to Brandon to be close to the ASC? Maybe downtown, because there is a glut of space there? As soon as I know, I will let you know.

How many clients can they serve?

This question struck me the other day when I was in immigration court. I had my usual one client and was well prepared for what I wanted to do at that hearing. I could not help noticing that some attorneys had many clients for each hearing. That must mean they have good business, or their rates are inexpensive, but I wonder what kind of service their clients receive.

All too often I see attorneys immigration court question their clients when the judge asks them "what language does your client speak?" or "where does your client live?". I know this about my clients before we get to court.

I have heard horror stories about aliens who only know that they are at their final deportation hearing on the day of their hearing. I have heard stories about aliens who met their lawyer twice during their entire case, once when they paid him, and once for the final hearing. By the time I am finished with a deportation case, my clients of often had enough of me. with the assistance of my partner Krista, and my assistant Sasha, we meet continually with our deportation clients up until the final hearing date, always preparing for the final hearing. No client of mine is ever surprised on the witness stand, because they've heard all the questions before, from me. In my last case, my client had a list of 178 questions that I expected he would see that day.

I am much more concerned about quality of representation, then the quantity of my clients, and I think that is the proper attitude to have.

Dragon helps me out!

Forgive me for being absent so long, my friends. It is been a crazy couple of months.

I recently purchased the Dragon voice-recognition software, and I could not be more pleased. This software can even determine what I am saying, which is a step up from our last attempt at voice-recognition software.

New things in immigration:

TPS for Haitians - it's about time that the nice people from Haiti got a break. It is too bad that it took a devastating earthquake to give them that break. This is great news for those from Haiti facing deportation, as this process will stop for a while.

CRI -- comprehensive immigration reform has been presented and is pending in Congress and the Senate. I certainly hope the president is more successful with this endeavor than he was with healthcare reform.

In recent cases, I have won quite a few 240 A(b) applications for my clients, and although the government is starting to appeal every loss, we are undefeated on appeals. You may remember these cases involve non-permanent residents who have been in the US for more than 10 years, who can show exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to their qualifying US citizen or lawful permanent relatives.

At Citizenship and Immigration Services, they remain very leery of every marriage case, and the decisions on petitions to remove conditions remain as baffling as ever. I saw a decision recently, during a consult, where the immigration service officer called the US citizen wife a lesbian, and said this was why he could not approve the case. If your petition to remove conditions has been denied, do not feel special. Too many good people are having their lives disrupted and their bank accounts destroyed because of poor decisions from the local office.

I hope to write more often in the future. Sorry I have been absent for so long.

Neil

Recent photos of happy clients

and yes, they are posted with my client's consent, of course!

When will Immigration Reform come?

President Obama has promised that a draft immigration reform bill will be presented to Congress by the end of the year. This is not important to you, of course, if you think it is right that a lawful permanent resident must wait eight or more years to be joined by his wife, when a temporary worker can have his wife come to the US in a matter of weeks. It is also not important to you, if you think that it is fair that a person convicted of a drug crime more than 30 years ago has no right to show that he is a changed person and no threat to the US.

The present immigration system is flawed and vicious. The expansion of the term "aggravated felony" in 1996 made nearly every alien convicted of a felony deportable without relief, no matter how long they lived here, whether anyone was hurt by their crime, or how their family would be affected.

ICE arrests far too many non-criminal aliens, and the private facilities in which they are jailed are a national disgrace. ICE routinely "disappears" aliens, and leaves their family wondering what happened to them for 72 hours or more -- when it would seem easy to let the alien make a phone call.

Bring on that reform Mr. President, and be ambitious about it, for God's sake!

Busy!

Boy -- it is hard to update the blog when I am busy. As a matter of fact, I thought I had a few moments to tell you about the I-360 aos I handled this morning, or about how another attorney sold out his clients -- but I just had a walk in. A client from 2001 with an emergency -- and of course he takes precedence. More later!

Motion to Reopen Granted!

Great News! My latest success story is a victory for his country, and for those who think that LPRs should not be arrested and kicked out for missing an interview.

My client is a native of Nicaragua, who has been married to his wife for more than seven years. they have four USC kids together, and she is the one who petitioned for him to get permanent residence in the first place. But -- when the couple failed to appear for their interview for removal of conditions, he was put in deportation proceedings and ordered deported.

Nevermind that the address they sent his notices to was NOT the address he specified as his mailing address on his petition to remove conditions (a cautious man, he wanted to make sure he got his notices, so he got a P.O. Box expressly for that purpose).

Nevermind that the ISO did not notice the mistake when my client failed to show for his interview. Nevermind that the Judge failed to notice that when he ordered my client deported. Nevermind that my client was nearly deported to the wrong country and he has been physically abused the entire month he has been at Krome --and that my client is deaf and they cannot communicate with him at Krome -- this story will have a happy ending.

But, for the love of God! ISOs -- if you have an alien miss an appointment, call the number on the petition! Check the address on the mailing, and make sure it went to the right place! Judges, do not be so quick to believe the government when they state that they sent a notice to the correct address. Check it out for yourself!

Incredibly annoying that they don't know where my client is for his 751 interview. They don't know where he is for his court hearing. But they do know exactly where he is when they want to arrest him.

We are better than this, America!

A tip of the cap to my esteemed colleague at the Chief Counsel's office who chose not to oppose the Motion to Reopen. I hope you do not get in too much trouble for doing the right thing.