Our Mistake: Please pay $585

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

In the normal experiences of most of us, if someone makes a mistake and it costs someone else money, the person who makes the mistake reimburses the person who is out the money. Certainly, the victim does not have to pay more money to correct the mistake. Such is not the case with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS. USCIS charges hefty fees for the services it provides. For example, the fee for an application to adjust status to…

Court deference in asylum case leads to another sad decision

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

It seems when I am not discussing detention issues, I am griping about Ninth Circuit decisions. The mainstream media, like Fox News, will often characterize the Ninth Circuit as a liberal court. Students of the court will tell you that if this was true in the past, it is less true now. At least in the immigration context, during President Bush’s eight years in office new judges have taken their place on the court who you can count on ruling…

July in October

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Remember July? Hotter? Long days and short nights? In July, I had two clients in immigration detention. Nice young women. Neither needed to be detained. Needed in the sense that there was any point to their detention. They were placed into detention months earlier, April. Remember April? Cooler? Shorter days and longer nights? October’s mirror image. Both had trials set for July. The clients hated being in detention – regimentation, bars and locks, crowded, horrible food, noisy, an environment of ignorance. But…

Item two: Denial of a case for lack of prosecution right after the clients come to their interview

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

In the same mail delivery as the previous frustrating mail, comes this one. A client comes to me after is arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She applied for a student visa extension and heard nothing from USCIS. Then ICE arrested her. (Years later, the extension is still pending).  We went to court a few times. The ICE attorneys were supposed to find out what happened to her student visa application. The woman was married to a United States citizen. When…