This week brought two moral turpitude decisions from two courts of appeals, Ortega-Lopez v. Lynch in the Ninth Circuit  and Arias v.  Lynch in the 7th Circuit. Moral turpitude is important in immigration law. Getting convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude can lead to deportation. INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(ii). Committing one and being punished with a jail sentence of more than 180 days (even if you don’t actually serve it!) leads to inadmissibility. Admitting to committing one without even being…

On July 6, 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals released its decision in Flores v. Lynch, a lawsuit brought by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law to decide about a difference in interpretation of a Settlement agreement the government entered into in 1997 regarding the detention of alien minors. Based on litigation back then regarding the detention and treatment of minors in detention, the government settled the lawsuits by agreeing to hold minors in facilities that are…

When you encounter a non-citizen of the United States on an American street, the usual understanding is that he could be one of six things: 1. A person who was admitted to the United States after inspection at a port of entry (border or air or seaport) and is maintaining proper status; 2. A person who was admitted and then overstayed his period of admission or violated his status; 3. A person who was paroled into the United States. Parole…

In Band of Brothers, there is a story line where Captain Winters is ordered to send some of his troops across enemy lines to capture a German soldier to gather intel. Winters begrudgingly comes up with a plan and sends some soldiers and they are not successful and take casualties. He is ordered to try again. Realizing the ridiculousness of the order, he lies and says he tried again when he didn’t. We the viewers are led to believe that…