Lawful Permanent Residents

Fox News Latino: “Immigration executive action raises fears among farmers of worker shortage”

Published on: December 29, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

A recent article from Fox News Latino details the concerns of the agricultural industry regarding the President’s executive action on immigration. The president’s announced expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and creation of Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) is estimated to provide deportation defense and work authorization for 4-5 million people currently in the U.S. without lawful status.

DACA will provide work permits and protection from deportation for many who are in the U.S. without status, who have been in the U.S. for more than five years, who entered before they turned 16 years old and have a minor or no criminal record.

DAPA will provide work permits and protection from deportation for many in the U.S. without status, who have been in the U.S. for more than five years, who have a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident child and have a minor or no criminal records.

Normalizing Diplomatic Relations with Cuba could mean Deportation for Thousands

Published on: December 26, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Last week, President Obama announced that he would begin the process to normalize relations with Cuba:

“President Obama on Wednesday ordered the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century as he vowed to “cut loose the shackles of the past” and sweep aside one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.” – New York Times.

Included in “normalizing” relations with Cuba will be restoring the diplomatic channels that have official been down for over 50 years. Restoring diplomatic relations means that Cuba will eventually begin issuing travel documents to, and accepting Cuban nationals who are deported from the United States.

SLG Attorney John Gihon talks about President Obama’s Immigration Executive Action on “Orlando Matters” TV Show

Published on: December 4, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

John Gihon, partner with Lasnetski Gihon Law (SLG) will appear on the television show “Orlando Matters,” at 7 a.m. this Saturday, December 6, 2014. The program will air on WRBW-Channel 65 in Orlando.

Fox 35 Orlando’s John Brown will host the show where current SLG attorney and former Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Senior Attorney John Gihon discusses how Obama’s executive action on immigration will affect the issue in the long term.

Recent Published Board of Immigration Appeals Decision

Published on: November 17, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Summary of Recent Published BIA Decisions:

Matter of Munroe, 26 I&N Dec. 428 (BIA 2014); The Board held that when an alien applies for a waiver pursuant to INA § 216(c)(4)(A) (I-751 waiver petition under extreme hardship theory) the only period relevant for the determination of whether the requisite hardship exists is the 2-year period immediately following the alien’s admission as a conditional permanent resident. Any hardship based upon events or facts that followed the initial two-year conditional residency period are irrelevant.

Matter of Bett, 26 I&N Dec. 437 (BIA 2014); The Board held that a Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification Form) is admissible in immigration proceedings on issues of removability and relief from removal.

Attorneys Jeremy Lasnetski and John Gihon of Lasnetski Gihon Law to speak at AILA Central Florida’s Annual Immigration Conference

Published on: October 16, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Jeremy Lasnetski and John Gihon, partners with Lasnetski Gihon Law, will be panelists on multiple topics this weekend at AILA Central Florida’s Annual Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida. The 28th Annual Fall Conference, entitled, “Basics and Beyond at the Beach” is a two-day conference at the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa and begins on October 17, 2014.

http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=49888#reg

Jeremy will be a panelist on the topics of U Visas, T Visas and VAWA benefits. U Visas are potentially available to any non-citizen who was the victim or witness to certain crimes here in the United States. VAWA benefits are potentially available for victims of domestic abuse by U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents.

When Can I File a Motion to Terminate or Administratively Close My Removal Proceedings, Part II.

Published on: October 9, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Last time I discussed the situations where an immigrant in removal proceedings could seek to terminate proceedings to avoid removal from the United States. Today I will discuss motions to administratively close proceedings.

While a successful motion to terminate removal proceedings usually removes an alien from jeopardy of deportation, a successful motion to administratively close proceedings simply pauses a removal case indefinitely. However, the outcome is the same as a motion to terminate, you are no longer in imminent danger of being ordered removed from the United States.

While administratively closing removal proceedings pauses your case indefinitely, at any time you or the Government can ask the Court to put your case back in front of the Immigration Judge.

When Can I File a Motion to Terminate or Administratively Close My Removal Proceedings, Part I.

Published on: October 7, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

For the poor unfortunate immigrant who finds themselves in removal proceedings, the process can be scary, confusing, and heartbreaking. Many immigrants are so intimidated by the removal process that they purposely fail to appear for court. The worst thing you can do if you are an immigrant who finds yourself in removal proceedings is not to show up. The best thing that you can do is hire an experienced immigration attorney who can review your case, explain your rights, and fight for you to be able to stay in the United States.

Once your are in removal proceedings, two of the ways that an an experienced immigration attorney can protect you from removal are to terminate the removal proceedings against you, or to administratively close them. Each action has a different outcome and different reasons to chose that strategy; however, each one can protect you from removal.

There are two general reasons to pursue a motion to terminate removal proceedings. One, is because the law says you can, the other is because the Government has a policy that says you can.

I have an Order of Removal or Deportation, what can I do now?

Published on: September 30, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Many non-citizens find themselves in this exact position at some point in their lives. Sometimes, they do not even know they have an order of removal or deportation until they apply for a green card or other immigration benefit. When you have an order of removal or deportation the last thing you should do is nothing. The first thing you should do is call an experienced immigration attorney about your options. Depending on how and why you were ordered removed or deported, you many have many different options available to you.

One of the options if you have an order of removal or deportation is to file a motion to reopen your immigration case. If you were ordered removed or deported because you did not show up for Immigration Court, you may be able to reopen your case if you can show that you did not receive notice or were not told that you were suppose to be in court. Many times, non-citizens end up in removal or deportation proceedings without even knowing it. This may happen because they are tricked into filing immigration paperwork through a Notario. If you did not know you were in immigration court an attorney may be able to file a motion to reopen for you. In this case, filing a motion to reopen will automatically stop the government from removing or deporting you while that motion is pending.

If you were ordered removed or deported and your attorney did something wrong, or failed to do something right in your immigration case, you may be able to file a motion to reopen and argue that your attorney was ineffective. You will need to be able to show that had your attorney been better, you would not have been ordered removed.

Summary of Recent Published Immigration Cases by the BIA and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Published on: September 25, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Recent Published BIA Decisions:

Matter of L-G-H-, 26 I&N Dec. 365 (BIA 2014); Board held that Fla. Stat. § 893.13(1)(a)(1) (Sale/manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance or possession with intent to do so) is divisible, and may be an aggravated felony “illicit trafficking” offense under INA § 101(a)(43)(B) under certain circumstances.

Matter of C-C-I-, 26 I&N Dec. 375 (BIA 2014): Board provided guidance on the process for terminating deferral of removal protection under Article III of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (DCAT).

Immigration Decision Bad for Non-Citizens Convicted of Marijuana Possession

Published on: September 23, 2014 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

The Board of Immigration Appeals recently issued a decision that will have serious negative consequences for non-citizens convicted of marijuana (cannabis) possession. See Matter of Dominguez-Rodriguez, 26 I&N Dec. 408 (BIA 2014). The immigration laws in the U.S. make certain non-citizens removable (subject to deportation) if they are convicted of a controlled substance offense OTHER THAN a single offense involving possession for one’s own use of thirty grams or less of marijuana. Section 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This means, if a lawful permanent resident or other lawfully-admitted non-citizen is convicted of possessing any federally controlled substance, other than marijuana they are subject to deportation. HOWEVER, if that same person is convicted of possession of marijuana (cannabis) the government must also prove that the amount of cannabis was over 30 grams, or the person possessed it for something other than personal use (selling it, delivering it, etc.). If the government is unable to prove the person possessed more than 30 grams of cannabis, or possessed it for sale or delivery, then the person is not subject to deportation.

Until recently, many Immigration Judges have required that the government prove that the amount was over 30 grams or not for personal use by using the same documents they use to prove most immigration charges. Those documents include the normal record of conviction, which consists of the judgment, sentence, probation order, indictment or information and a few other documents. Until recently, in most jurisdictions, the Immigration Judges were not using documents such as the police report, or property storage cards.