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Written by: Jonathan Willmoth

29 June 2022

During the donald trump administration, the administrative agencies that run the immigration system ground to a halt, almost as if following their leader, they decided that slow-walking or virtually stopping immigration benefit processing was their new modus operandi. Today we still see horrifically long wait times for visa interviews to be scheduled abroad, for visas to be issued after interview, for work cards to be issued, and for many basic applications to simply be adjudicated. 

Another key facet of the trump administration was for these same administrative agencies to refuse to communicate with attorneys, clients, and the public. As a result, we really have no way to learn why a particular case is delayed, or any meaningful mechanism to address concerns about a case. 

To that end, the Department of Homeland Security which runs the immigration benefit agency, USCIS, and the Department of State which run the embassies are administrative agencies and subject to the Administrative Procedures Act. Part of that Act requires agencies to act within a reasonable time on a properly filed case. 

We have recently begun suing the government over and over on long-delayed cases. Technically, we are seeking from the Court a Writ of Mandamus, to order the agency to act - but this does not mean that the Court orders them to approve or deny the case, merely that some action must be taken. Some examples include an asylum application that was pending SIX YEARS after interview; two H-1B worker visas for the same company that were held up at US Embassies in Pakistan for months while the employer waited for their workers to arrive; a naturalization applicant who had been scheduled for their oath ceremony - then had it cancelled - and couldn’t get anyone to explain why; and a naturalization applicant whose whole family filed at the same time she did and were all naturalized while she waited and waited for an interview that was never scheduled. 

ALL of these cases were resolved within 60 days (some of them within 2-3 days) of our filing lawsuits against the government to compel agency action. Keep in mind - in none of them did the Court find against the government. In none of them did the government even answer our complaint. Instead, by filing the lawsuit we were able to get agency resources applied to resolve their issue. In all of these cases, we had tried contacting the agencies over the course of months (or years) as well as often contacting Congressional representatives and other avenues to seek redress before going to court. 

This is not how the administrative agencies are meant to act - it should not be a requirement for you to get a decision in your case to first sue them. However, when the few options available to you do not work - Mandamus may be your last resort. 

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Written by: Jonathan Willmoth

24 January 2022

Crazy week last: Wednesday we won Cancellation of Removal in Immigration Court, the second such win this month! Now this man can stay in the country with his wife and 3 US citizen children. He has been here since 1989, but because he went home to visit his ill grandparents in 1999, he has no way of getting his residence through family. Because of his good moral character throughout his time here, and the hardships his family would face without him, his case was approved (though there is a 2-year backlog in him getting his residence). This ends a 10-year struggle in the Immigration Courts.

Then Friday we received a termination of removal (deportation) proceedings for someone who would have been eligible for Cancellation of Removal, but while she was waiting for her day in court (case stated in 2012), she lost her “qualifying relative” because her son turned 21. 

Also from the immigration court we received approval to administratively close a case where someone can now apply for their waiver inside the United States. Under the trump policy he would have had to leave and wait outside the US for more than a year away from his family to get this waiver, and now he can do it here - stay with his family, and then leave only once its all approved - likely being going a few weeks only. 

We also received approvals from USCIS for Lawful Permanent Residence (“green cards”) for people who were in removal (deportation) proceedings, but were “arriving aliens,” meaning they were paroled into the country when they came in through the border. Their US citizen child, now over 21, petitioned for them and within about 6 months they are now residents - no longer facing deportation. 

We also got an approval for the removal of conditions on someone’s residence, after USCIS had issued a very difficult Request For Evidence (RFE) basically challenging every part of the case. We submitted a comprehensive response back in April 2021, and after interview a couple weeks ago, the approval notice came in meaning he now has his 10-year residence card. He is also now eligible to apply for naturalization. 

We also got pre-hearing Voluntary Departure issued by the immigration court quickly, for a client who needed to leave the country to attend his consular interview to obtain his residence. He was scheduled at the consulate on short notice, after waiting 2 years for interview after his waiver was approved in the US. If all goes well at his interview on Monday, he could be back in the country as a Lawful Permanent Resident in a couple of weeks.

Finally, we received several notices for Oath Ceremonies for people who have been in the United States for many years and are now going to become citizens!

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Written by: Jonathan Willmoth

18 June 2020

• immigration,
• DACA

The Supreme Court today issued a decision finding that the Trump administration did not follow the law in ending DACA. It has remanded the issue back to the Department of Homeland Security, which allows them to try again to follow the Administrative Procedures Act if they wish to end the existing program. DHS should now reopen DACA for new/late initial DACA applications as well as to continue to accept renewals. If you have DACA already, please continue to file renewals, if you believe you are eligible and have not file, or failed to continue renewing your DACA, please contact our office to speak with us about whether you may be eligible to file again soon. You can read the decision here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-587_5ifl.pdf

La Corte Suprema emitió hoy una decisión que determina que la administración de Trump no siguió la ley al poner fin al DACA. Se reenvió el problema al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, lo que les permite intentar nuevamente seguir la Ley de Procedimientos Administrativos si desean finalizar el programa existente. El DHS ahora debe volver a abrir DACA para solicitudes de DACA nuevas / inicial tardia, así como continuar aceptando renovaciones. Si ya tiene DACA, continúe presentando renovaciones, si cree que es elegible y no lo ha solicitado, o si no ha podido renovar su DACA, comuníquese con nuestra oficina para hablar con nosotros acerca de si puede volver a hacerlo pronto. Puedes leer la decisión aquí: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-587_5ifl.pdf

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Written by: Jonathan Willmoth

01 August 2019

What part of illegal don’t you understand?

Guy comes to see me in February 2010 to see about his immigration status - today he became a Permanent Resident through a 10-minute hearing before the Immigration Court. In 5 years he will be eligible to become a US citizen. His story actually begins in 1996 when he and his wife came to the United States without authorization. Since then they have had 3 US citizen children. He has worked this entire time, and has volunteered at his Church and local VFW - for which he has received several awards.

He had an employer who filed for him in 2001, before the law changed. That law, INA 245(i), would eventually allow him to obtain his residence in the US even though he entered without authorization and worked without documents, as long as he entered before the end of 1999 and paid a $1000 penalty. Unfortunately that law was allowed to sunset on April 30, 2001 and inexplicably has never been renewed even though it would open up legal paths and raise a staggering amount of money top allow people to come out of the shadows and obtain their residence if they can show long-term residence, have a valid petition filed on their behalf, and don’t have any disqualifying criminal convictions.

In our case, the company that petitioned for him in 2001 had closed, but a new company wanted to hire him. That process tookseveral years, and we have to show there were no minimally qualified US workers ready, willing, and able to take the job at the wage determined by the Department of Labor. We filed with the DOL in November 2010, and it was approved in January 2011. We then filed the next step, a petition with USCIS by the new employer in July 2011, which was approved in January 2012. 

Then we had to wait several years for a visa to become available, because there are only so many available each year and that results in a backlog. In our case, that took until December 2016. We then filed for his residence with USCIS, but during the more than 1 year wait, he was arrested for a DUI. That resulted in him being placed in removal proceedings. We got him released on bond in December 2017, and had to show he was obtaining alcohol treatment, and continued with Breathalyzer monitoring throughout this process - all the way up until his trial today. 

Complicating matters further, he now had a new employer, and we had to show that his new job was either for a “successor in interest” to the employer who filed for him in 2010, and both companies were own by the same person, but also we could show that the new job was in the same or similar occupation, and we were able to show both. We also had to prove that the new employer had sufficient financial resources to pay his wages, and that he was otherwise approvable - no disqualifying criminal convictions, etc. In the end, our filings to the Immigration Court totaled over 230 pages. 

The hearing today only took 10 minutes because we had filed everything showing he was eligible for and deserving of getting his residence. While the Department of Homeland Security agreed with the Judge that he should get his residence, we still had to wait for his scheduled hearing some 2 years after he was released on bond. 

So, guy comes in without authorization, and begins his journey to getting legal in 2001, which only ends in 2019 after 3 different companies said they wanted to hire him, and he showed at least 3 times that he was worthy of discretionary grants of benefits. All of this was possible to him because of a law that no longer exists, meaning people who came here after 2001 and never had old qualifying petitions for them or their family can’t use this process anymore. So when you hear people ask why someone in the country just doesn’t “get legal,” remember this story.