Mr. Vedder wins approval of an I-751 before the Immigration Judge

Mr. Vedder represented Respondent, M. S., before the immigration court in Orlando.  DHS was seeking his removal because CIS denied his joint petition I-751 and placed him in removal proceedings.

At the individual hearing December 31 DHS opposed granting the I-751 and called witnesses to support its position.  Mr. Vedder successfully argued that the operative fact was the original purpose the marriage was entered into and the Government, which had the burden of proof, offered no evidence indicating the parties’ original intent was not bona fide.  The I-751 was granted and proceedings were terminated.

Judge blocks Arizona ID theft law targeting job-seeking immigrants

The LA Times reports that yesterday, a U.S. District Judge in Arizona enjoined the state from enforcing its identity theft laws that penalize undocumented immigrants for seeking employment, finding that the laws are preempted by corresponding federal statutes. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was using these laws to justify worksite raids, more than 80 of which have taken place since the Arizona Legislature passed the law in 2008.

Read more from LA Times

In Miami, deportation fears rise as U.S. revives relations with Havana

While U.S. officials say they have not changed policies barring deportation of most Cubans to the island, those assurances are small comfort for the people in the midst of proceedings or who have final orders of expulsion.

“I became worried the day they ordered me deported,” said Luis, a 73-year-old exile who in the 1960s participated in covert U.S. operations against the Fidel Castro regime. “But now, when the president in the White House wants relations with Cuba, my worries are much deeper.”


Read more from the Miami Herald here

NBC News: Applications for Immigration Action Could Begin in Mid-February

As reported by NBC News, USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez told Spanish-speaking reporters in a conference call that immigrants should be able to start applying for deportation relief and work permits early next year. First up will be those applying for expanded DACA, most likely in February. Parents of U.S. citizens and legal resident children should be able to begin applying for DAPA in May.

Read full story here.

Reagan-Bush Family Fairness: A Chronological History

Today, the American Immigration Council releases Reagan-Bush Family Fairness: A Chronological History. From 1987 to 1990, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr. used their executive authority to protect from deportation a group that Congress left out of its 1986 immigration reform legislation—the spouses and children of individuals who were in the process of legalizing. These “Family Fairness” actions were taken to avoid separating families in which one spouse or parent was eligible for legalization, but the other spouse or children living in the United States were not—and thus could be deported, even though they would one day be eligible for legal status when the spouse or parent legalized. Publicly available estimates at the time were that “Family Fairness” could cover as many as 1.5 million family members, which was approximately 40 percent of the then-unauthorized population. After Reagan and Bush acted, Congress later protected the family members.






This fact sheet provides a chronological history of the executive actions and legislative debate surrounding Family Fairness.

Stop Notario Fraud - How AILA Members Can Help

Michelle Mendez, co-chair of the AILA National Consumer Protection & UPL Action Committee, shares information about combating notario fraud related to the new deferred action for parental accountability (DAPA) initiative.



For more information, visit stopnotariofraud.org.

Law Professors Affirm Obama’s Immigration Action Within Legal Authority

Today, more than a hundred legal scholars released a letter after reviewing the President Obama’s announced executive actions on immigration, that confirms that his plan for immigration action is “within the legal authority of the executive branch” of the United States.

The letter, spearheaded by Hiroshi Motomura of University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia of Dickinson School of Law, and Stephen H. Legomsky of the Washington University School of Law, and was signed by many law professors from the nation’s top law schools.  They conclude that “the expansion of the DACA program and the establishment of Deferred Action for Parental Accountability are legal exercises of prosecutorial discretion. Both executive actions are well within the legal authority of the executive branch of the government of the United States.”

Read more