Loudoun judge defies high court over immigration issue

Parents’ Petition Denied for ‘Alien Smuggling’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 2, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A Guatemalan mother and father who entered the U.S. illegally engaged in “alien smuggling” when they followed a pattern of sending each of their four children several thousand dollars at a hotel in Mexico, for the children’s subsequent illegal arrival in the U.S.; the 4th Circuit upholds the Board of Immigration Appeals’ conclusion that the [...]

Court Can’t Hear Deportation Challenge

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 6, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident loses his challenge to an order that he be deported because of his convictions for domestic violence; the 4th Circuit lacks jurisdiction to hear his appeal from a denial of his request to stay because he raises no constitutional claims or questions of law. Petitioner Reynaldo Sorcia, a [...]

No Relief from Removal for ‘Inconclusive’ Record

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 8, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge Albert Diaz

A lawful permanent resident, from former Jordanian territory, loses his challenge to the Board of Immigrations Appeals’ decision that he is removable and ineligible for cancellation of removal, due to his criminal record, which includes a Virginia conviction for petit larceny, third or subsequent offense; the 4th Circuit says the proffer of an “inconclusive” record [...]

Naturalization Process Differs When Parents Unmarried

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 2, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Although an immigration judge in 1998 terminated a deportation proceeding against petitioner, a native of Jamaica, with the comment that petitioner appeared to be a U.S. citizen by virtue of his father’s naturalization, the comment was not a declaration that petitioner is a citizen who cannot be removed; the 4th Circuit rejects this challenge to [...]

‘Ineffective Assistance’ Claim Exists for Pre-Padilla Plea

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 2, 2011
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Immigration, Judge Randy I. Bellows, Virginia Circuit Courts

A habeas petitioner gets an evidentiary hearing on his Strickland claim based on his assertion that he would not have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug possession had his lawyer not advised him the conviction would not affect his legal immigration status; a Fairfax Circuit Court says that even before Padilla, a Virginia lawyer who affirmatively [...]

Juries defy cliche of anti-immigrant bias

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 15, 2011
Tags: Henrico County Circuit Court, Immigration, Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Prince William Circuit Court, Wrongful Death

Your plaintiff is the family of a Mexican national from North Carolina, killed in an auto accident, and you’re stuck with a Virginia jurisdiction with a reputation for conservative jurors. If those circumstances sound daunting, consider a second case. Your 5 1/2-year-old plaintiff with a severe brachial plexus injury is the son of a Mexican [...]

Drug Convictions Stop Veteran’s Naturalization Petition

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2011
Tags: Immigration, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court dismisses a petition for review of an application for naturalization filed by a native of Guyana, a permanent legal resident who served eight years in the U.S. Navy, but whose earlier petition was denied due to his convictions for marijuana offenses; although Congress has liberalized some requirements for naturalization of [...]

Governor orders use of E-Verify

By Alan Cooper
Published: March 22, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Immigration

All Virginia executive branch agencies must use the federal E-Verify system to check immigration status before hiring an employee by June 1, 18 months earlier than called for in 2010 legislation. That order yesterday from Gov. Bob McDonnell follows action by the General Assembly this session to require use of E-Verify by Dec. 1, 2013, [...]

Family Is ‘Social Group’ for Review of Removal Order

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 24, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Saying it could conceive of few social groups “more readily identifiable than the family,” the 4th Circuit grants a petition for review of a BIA order of removal of petitioner and his family to El Salvador, as the BIA’s conclusion that petitioner failed to demonstrate he was part of a “particular social group” was manifestly [...]