In immigration law, there are certain crimes an alien can be convicted of that can lead to removal. The immigration statutes, found in the Immigration and Nationality Act, do not list the state crimes and usually not the federal crimes that lead to removal. Rather, the Immigration and Nationality Act names certain types of crimes – such as a “crime of moral turpitude,” or a “theft offense,” or a “crime of violence,” or “sexual abuse of a minor,” or “domestic…

Sometimes an issue in immigration law lays shrouded in mystery and then suddenly courts make a series of decisions to clarify what was opaque for decades. The issue of how the government goes about revoking asylum is one of those issues. I think the reason for the sudden burst of interest is that never before has USCIS or its predecessors had the fraud investigation capacities that they have now. What the procedures are for withdrawing asylum grants was never fully…

The gloves are off in the Ninth circuit again. This time in Planes v. Holder. On June 5, 2012, the court denied a petition for rehearing that featured a concurrence and a dissent, with each side pointing out how the other made egregious errors in its decision making. This is an Avengers versus Loki battle in public view (for free and without wearing 3D glasses).  The underlying case was decided on July 5, 2011.  

While immigration is often in the news, the nitty gritty of immigration law, which I write about in this blog, is not. Now, the nitty gritty is in the news with the raging debate about VAWA (Violence Against Women Act). The Republican House of Representatives seeks to modify the current version of VAWA, or the package of laws and amendments that make up the protections for battered people (VAWA does not just apply to women, but to all battered spouses…