Shahid Ul Haque

Shahid Haque dedicates his practice to helping immigrants obtain legal status in the United States and pursue all that the country has to offer. Mr. Haque assists clients with a wide variety of immigration matters, including applications with the consulates abroad and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, representing clients arrested by the Department of Homeland Security, and defending immigrants in deportation proceedings in Immigration Court.

Mr. Haque has represented over a thousand immigrants and their families all across Montana.  Mr. Haque helps clients with a wide variety of family and employment based visas. He has won asylum for over  twenty refugees who fled from their home countries to escape torture, persecution, and death on account of their political or religious beliefs. He has also won cancellation of removal for numerous clients in contested deportation proceedings — one of the most difficult forms of relief to win due to its high burden of proof.

Mr. Haque has advocated for immigrants’ rights by bringing lawsuits in state and federal court to challenge unconstitutional laws and policies that discriminate against immigrants in Montana. He successfully challenged LR-121, an anti-immigrant voter-approved referendum, and thanks to his efforts the law was found unconstitutional.

In 2013, he filed a class action lawsuit against the Montana Highway Patrol to challenge its practice of detaining Latino drivers and passengers solely for the purpose of checking into their immigration status.  In 2015, he prevailed with a judgment in his favor. Under a new policy, troopers cannot ask about immigration status based solely on a person’s race, ethnicity or language abilities.  Nor can they demand drivers or passengers tell them their immigration status or detain people who choose not to answer.  Montana is now one of the only states with a clear policy prohibiting this conduct.

In November 2016, Mr. Haque won a settlement of $125,000 against Jefferson County, Montana on behalf of a Mexican immigrant who was sexually assaulted while in immigration custody in that facility.

In the Fall of 2015, Mr. Haque taught immigration law at the University of Montana School of Law. Mr. Haque is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He is also the founder and President of the Montana Immigrant Justice Alliance (“MIJA”), a statewide non-profit organization focused on immigrant justice issues. You can read about MIJA’s mission by clicking here.

In 2017, Mr. Haque was the recipient of the ACLU's Jeannette Rankin Civil Liberties Award, in acknowledgement of his service to immigrants in the State of Montana.

Mr. Haque lobbies for fair immigration policies in the Montana Legislature, and teaches training courses for immigrants and allies on immigration law, debunking myths about immigrants, knowing your rights when dealing with law enforcement, and the need for comprehensive immigration reform. In 2010, Mr. Haque trained at the Western States Center’s Community Strategic Training Initiative in Portland.

Mr. Haque earned his Juris Doctor from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, with High Honors, in 2005. During his first year in law school, he won the West Publishing Award for earning the highest GPA in his class. Mr. Haque served as Notes and Comments Editor of the Chicago-Kent Law Review, where he also published a scholarly article on labor and immigration policy. Upon graduation, he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and won the school’s Bar & Gavel Award for outstanding service to the immigrant community. During law school, Mr. Haque was an intern with the National Immigrant Justice Center. He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Sociology from the University of Southern Indiana in 2001.

Mr. Haque is a member of the Illinois and Montana Bars, and is admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts for Montana and the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Haque represents immigrants throughout the country, and has appeared before Immigration Courts in numerous states.

Mr. Haque resides in Helena, Montana with his wife, Sandra, and his family.

For a consultation with Mr. Haque, please submit our online form.