Musings on Immigration

We found out this week that the "new" panel that will hear the actual DAPA appeal in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is actually the old panel.  Judges Smith and Elrod were the majority decision in motions panel which declined to lift the stay put in place by Judge Hanen from the Federal District Court in Texas.  Using polemics better suited for a political rally, Judge Hanen put a stop to DAPA and expanded DACA just as they were about to go into effect.  Judges Smith and Elrod, although less "dynamic" in their political tilt, made it clear that they were swayed by Judge Hanen and not by the rather lackluster lawyering of the Department of Justice, and refused to lift the stay. Most advocates for reasonable immigration reform (and quite of few active Republicans) were deflated when news broke on the makeup of the panel.  There had been much hope created when the panel earlier in June had asked for briefings from both sides on whether or not the appeals panel to h...

For going on three weeks now, the U.S. Department of State has been unable to issue visas of any kind due to a system hardware failure.  This means that people trying to get permission to enter the United States to work, to perform, to be reunited with their family, or just to visit Disneyland are being told to come back later (not sure when) to have their consular appointments.  Clearly this is a huge and costly inconvenience for individuals and companies. The ever popular UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is an example of a company that has been adversely affected by this system failure.  The UFC relies on and employs the best mixed martial arts fighters from all over the world, who come to the U.S. to participate in fight cards that are scheduled many months in advance.  It has been reported that several popular fighters who were scheduled to appear on the next two fight cards have been replaced or have had their fights cancelled due to the fighters not be...

  Johanna Cochran es una de nuestros abogados estelares tomó recientemente un caso pro bono para un hombre mexicano detenido en el Centro de Detención de Stewart en Lumpkin, Georgia, que, a pesar de un diagnóstico y tratamiento para el cáncer cerebral, se negó puesta en libertad de buscar tratamiento médico urgente. Nuestro cliente era un residente legal permanente de los EE.UU., había estado viviendo en este país por más de 25 años, y padre de tres hijos ciudadanos estadounidenses. Fue detenido debido a un reciente cargo de agresion por el que fue condenado. Este hombre no pudo buscar el consejo de un abogado antes de declararse culpable de la acusación y no fue hasta que los oficiales del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) se fueron en busca de él, él buscó un abogado para tratar de reabrir su condena penal (que él se había declarado sin el consejo de un abogado). Por la reapertura del caso, a este residente permanente a largo plazo no sería deportado. Nuestra...

El 1 de junio de 2015, Kuck Immigration Partners, a través de nuestra abogada Anna Erwin, recibió una innovadora ( pero hasta el momento inédita) decisión de la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración. La Junta revocó la decisión del juez de inmigración de Atlanta para deportar a nuestra cliente de 11 años de edad, y se encontró que el juez debería haber abordado la elegibilidad de nuestro cliente para la Visa de Inmigración Juvenil Especial (SIJS), y que el juez debería haber continuado el caso de dejar que nuestra cliente persiga su SIJS a través de una petición de custodia tribunal estatal ponerla en la custodia exclusiva de su padre. Nuestra cliente es nativa de El Salvador. Su madre la abandonó cuando era una bebé. Sus abuelos paternos se preocupaban por ella en El Salvador y su padre llego a los EE.UU. para trabajar y mantener a su familia. En 2014, los abuelos de nuestros clientes se volvieron demasiado ancianos y enfermos para cuidar de ella. Su madre seguía sin asumir la resp...

Johanna Cochran one of our stellar attorneys recently took a pro bono case for a Mexican man detained at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia,  who, despite a diagnosis and treatment for brain cancer, was refused release from detention to seek urgent medical treatment. Our client was a Legal Permanent Resident of the U.S., had been living in this country for over 25 years, and was the father of three U.S. citizen children. He was detained because of a recent battery charge for which he was convicted. This man failed to seek the advice of an attorney before pleading guilty to the charge and it was not until officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) went looking for him, that he sought an attorney to try to reopen his criminal conviction (which he had pled to without attorney advice).  By reopening the case, this long term permanent resident would not be deported. Our firm quickly learned that our client had some serious medical conditions that needed ...

On June 1, 2015, Kuck Immigration Partners, through our amazing associate attorney Anna Erwin,  received a groundbreaking (but as of yet unpublished) decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board reversed the decision of the Atlanta Immigration Judge to deport our 11-year-old client and found that the Judge should have addressed our client’s eligibility for a Special Immigration Juvenile Visa (SIJS), and that the Judge should have continued the case to let our client pursue her SIJS through a state court custody petition putting her in the sole custody of her father. Our client is a native of El Salvador. Her mother abandoned her as a baby. Her paternal grandparents cared for her in El Salvador and her father came to the U.S. to work and support his family. In 2014, our client’s grandparents became too elderly and ill to care for her. Her mother still would not take responsibility for her care. Our client had no choice but to come to the United States where her f...