By Margaret B. Kwoka The quality of justice individuals receive in immigration court has been the subject of intense criticism by advocacy groups, news media, and even federal judges for the past many years. See, e.g., Jacqueline Stevens, Lawless Courts, The Nation (Nov. 8, 2010). Reports have detailed conduct of immigration judges that has been unprofessional at best and unethical or abusive at worst. See id. Now, the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which oversees the immigration courts, refuses to release records detailing complaints that have been submitted about [...]
IJ: Indiana resisting law enforcement isn’t crime of violence
A Chicago immigration judge recently held that resisting law enforcement in violation of Indiana Code § 35-44-3 is not a crime of violence type of aggravated felony. Matter of ----, slip op. (Chicago Immigr. Ct. Dec. 3, 2012) (Fujimoto, IJ). This case involved an LPR who was convicted and sentenced to 545 days imprisonment. According to the court, at the time of conviction the statute penalized “‘[a] person who knowingly or intentionally…flees from a law enforcement officer after the officer has, by visible or audible means, identified himself and ordered the person to stop’” and “‘the [...]
Report: Record immigration court backlog; 7.9% of removal cases result from conviction
The Transactional Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University reports that the number of cases sitting in immigration courts across the country has risen to an all-time high and that the percentage of removal cases arising from a crime-based removal ground has dropped. TRAC, Immigration Backlog, Wait Times, Keep Rising (July 19, 2012). At the end of June 2012, TRAC’s analysis found, there were 314,147 immigration cases pending nationwide. On average, cases are now completed in 526 days, up from 489 days at the end of fiscal year 2011 and 447 days at the end of FY 2010. Of special relevance [...]
1 client, 2 wins: Successful Padilla claims in crim & immigration courts
Taking an expansive approach to client representation, attorney Carlos M. García recently vacated a conviction that had served as the basis for removal, then headed to immigration court where he successfully moved to terminate removal proceedings. García, an attorney at García & García Attorneys at Law (this blog’s patrocinador and my brother), relied on Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010), in the Texas district court, then fended off DHS’s attempt to remove his client on the basis of the “reason to believe” the client was a drug trafficker ground of removal. The state district [...]
1st person account: Why Padilla matters
Immigration law’s human impact is undeniable. Growing up in South Texas, there was no more poignant feature of law than stories of friends or family members running from la migra. These days, I spend my days immersed in immigration law, but from a wholly different perspective. The United States citizen lawyer-turned-law professor simply can’t feel the immense impact of immigration law in the same way as the millions of people whose lives are uprooted by immigration law’s infinite inanity. That’s why the message pasted below struck a cord with me when I received it in my inbox a few weeks [...]
Report: 15% of removal proceedings post-9/11 based on criminal activity
A new analysis of data collected by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the formal name of the Department of Justice unit that includes the immigration courts, evidences that removal proceedings based on criminal charges since September 11, 2011 constitute a small part of the government’s removal practice. TRAC, Immigration Enforcement Since 9/11: A Reality Check (Sept. 9, 2011). Crime-based removal under the Obama Administration, the report adds, has meandered down since hitting a high in March 2010. Researchers at Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access [...]
IJ: Tex failure to stop & render aid isn’t CIMT
An Immigration Judge (IJ) in Texas recently determined that a Texas conviction for failure to stop and render aid, Tex. Transp. Code §§ 550.021, 550.023, is not a crime involving moral turpitude where the conviction results from an individual’s failure to provide his name and address to an injured party or occupant of a vehicle involved in a collision. Matter of ---- (Port Isabel, Texas Immigration Court July 25, 2011). This case was argued by crImmigration.com patrocinador Carlos M. García of García & García Attorneys at Law P.L.L.C. This case involved an individual who became an LPR on [...]
3 new Immigration Judges appointed
The overburdened Immigration Judge corps received three new members last week. Judges Steven F. Day, Edward F. Kelly, and Deepali Nadkarni were sworn in Chief IJ Brian O’Leary. Judge Day will head to the Boston Immigration Court while Judges Kelly and Nadkarni will serve as Assistant Chief IJs. All three new judges come directly from the government’s immigration law agencies. Judge was most recently a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL), the Justice unit that litigates all immigration cases in the federal courts (as opposed to the Immigration [...]