Chicago, IL
Immigration Lawyer at Chicago, IL
Practice Areas: Immigration, Asylum, Litigation
OUTCOME: H-1B1 granted
H-1B1 visa denial, predicated on the government's believe an equivalency evaluation was deficient, and the beneficiary (a large cat handler/trainer) failed to prove his background was sufficient for th ... e visa. Motion to Reconsider filed, and was granted.
OUTCOME: Appeal won, permanent residency granted at remanded hearing.
Chen was ordered deported at his hearing, because of a conviction for 30-500g of marijuana. The IJ found this to be an aggravated felony. We appealed, the Board upheld the IJ's decision, and we appeale ... d again to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. It agreed with our original position, that under a Moncrieffe analysis, 30.01g was a small amount, and therefore the conviction was not an aggravated felony, leaving Chen, a LPR, prima facie eligible for cancellation of removal. Case published.
OUTCOME: Appeal granted, permanent residency obtained
In an unpublished decision, the AAO sustained the appeal of a §212(a)(9)(B)(v) waiver, citing evidence of health conditions of the applicant's spouse, financial difficulties, and difficulties as a sing ... le parent of eight children. Courtesy of Robert Carpenter. AILA Doc. No. 10121362.
OUTCOME: Permanent residency granted
Cancellation of removal defense for JL, who was accused of alien smuggling for offering a ride to 2 men near the border in Texas in a driving rain storm. JL purchased food for the two men as well, and ... drove them to a relative's home. He did not know they were illegally present in the U.S. Judge Carlos Cuevas granted the case, after trial and argument, allowing JL to remain in the U.S. permanently.
OUTCOME: Appeal granted, and case reopened
The Board sustained our appeal, challenging a denial of a Motion to Reopen, based on ineffective service of the Order to Show Cause on a "responsible adult" while the respondent was a minor. The Board ... agreed that 'responsible' meant just that; evidence showed that the adult in question was not.
OUTCOME: Permanent residency granted
The government denied a marriage-based adjustment of status case, asserting the beneficiary had no overcome the public charge ground of inadmissibility, and owed a version of his homeland's birth certi ... ficate that he'd never produced before, while successfully entering the U.S. on dozens of occasions. We filed suit under the APA in the Northern District of IL to right this egregious wrong; the suit was successful, and less than 4 months later, the denial was reopened, the case set for an interview in Chicago, and permanent residency issued
OUTCOME: Settled/Unlawful Removal Stopped
Robert Carpenter filed a habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the case was assigned to the Judge Wayne Anderson. The habeas petition ... argued that the court had jurisdiction, notwithstanding the REAL ID Act's provisions that stripped federal district courts of jurisdiction in the vast majority of immigration cases. The petition also produced a statement from the client's own Embassy, authenticating his passport that was issued in his homeland within a week of his claimed departure. ICE had maintained the passport could be fake. It was not. The suit also contained copies of his departing airline tickets, with baggage claim receipts, a bus ticket within his country of origin, a baptismal certificate and marriage certificate, all verifying that he left as claimed. The matter settled shortly after an initial status appearance in front of Judge Anderson in Chicago, with the admirable help of the United States Attorney's Office. The attorney assigned to the case very professionally evaluated the evidence and concluded that the man had in fact left the U.S. and that no removal order existed. The man, along with his five U.S. Citizen children, are grateful for the outcome.
OUTCOME: Appeal sustained and remaneded to Immigration Judge
Unpublished, redacted 2010 BIA decision reversing IJ discretionary denial of cancellation of removal, finding significant social and humane considerations including close and extensive family ties to U ... .S. citizens. Courtesy of Robert Carpenter. AILA Doc. No. 10090232.