I get these calls every week. A family member of an alien or the alien himself or herself calls and tells me that the alien is in Mexico. He or she was encountered by ICE or CBPand signed papers to allow his or her return to Mexico without seeing an immigration judge. I ask, “Why did he sign?” The answer is invariably that the officers explained that if the alien did not sign and go back to Mexico he or…

Last week I discussed the irrational exuberance that caused attorneys to file adjustment of status applications for their clients who were deported and then came back even after it had become clear that USCIS was going to find the client ineligible for adjustment of status. This week I will discuss a similar irrational exuberance involving visa-waiver-entrant adjustments. The visa waiver program, found at INA § 217, allows citizens of certain countries to come to the United States without a visa…

Paris Hilton Paris Hilton, great granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, and famous person in her own right, pled guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession in Las Vegas on September 17, 2010. She was sentenced to one year probation, 200 hours community service, $2,000 fine and ordered to complete a drug abuse program. Possessing drugs is a deportable offense under INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i). It is waivable for a permanent resident if the permanent resident has resided in the United States for the past…

On August 30, 2010, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the body that contains the immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals announced that it was changing the way people can access court information through their telephone number, 1-800-898-7180. The way it is done is by calling and entering an aliens identification number, their “Alien Number,: also called their “A-number.” Then you could hear about court dates for pending cases and outcomes in concluded cases. The implementation of the system…