Immigration court proceedings are being terminated, pursuant to new policy

Pursuant to an August 20, 2010 directive from the Department of Homeland Security, immigration court proceedings are being terminated in many cases.

The directive condones the dismissal of these deportation proceedings where there is specific “relief” available for the foreign national. Such relief involves things like marriage to a USA citizen, or other pending or approved visa petition.

While the directive was issued only 7 days ago, I have already seen several of my clients’ deportation cases dismissed. This is a huge benefit for clients as it saves them the time and expense and fear of deportation proceedings.

Client Gets Green Card Back from Immigration After Airport Incident

Our client from Thailand, received a new green card today, after fighting for 2 years to get it back.

What happened? It turns out she had been arrested for a couple of misdemeanors. Those arrests made it into the airport computers for customs and border protection. When she took a trip abroad and was returning to the USA, she was detained when passing through immigration, and they took away her green card. They still allowed her to enter the country.

Since that time, more than two years ago, she has been trying to get back her green card, all to no avail. Finally, with our law firm’s efforts, using various forms and inquiries, she received a brand new green card in the mail today.

This case presents a very common scenario. The government’s computers at the airport have been loaded with all sorts of criminal databases. If they detect an arrest of a non-citizen, they will often seize the green card and put the person in immigration court proceedings. It is important to remember, however, that the immigrant is entitled to proof of status and there are various ways to try to get such proof, and to get the green card back.