Entries by Cyrus Mehta

WAS THE ATTORNEY REALLY INEFFECTIVE IN KOVACS v. UNITED STATES?

In Kovacs v. United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a lower district court’s decision denying a writ of error coram nobis to vacate a 1999 guilty plea to misprision of felony on the ground that his lawyer rendered ineffective assistance. While the outcome of the Second Circuit’s decision […]

TRANSMISSION OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP THROUGH ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY – AN UPDATE

By Gary Endelman and Cyrus D. Mehta “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Lao –Tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC-531 BC) Ed. note – This article updates information from a previous piece, “Answer Man: Assisted Reproductive Technology and U.S. Immigration Law.” The Department of State has announced a major and most welcome […]

GOP PRINCIPLES ON IMMIGRATION – A PATH TO LEGAL STATUS

By Gary Endelman and Cyrus D. Mehta The Congressional Republicans finally issued a brief document outlining its principles on immigration on January 30, 2014. As anticipated, and unlike the Senate bill S. 744, the GOP proposes a path to legal status with no special pathway to citizenship. The document states: There will be no special path to citizenship […]

The Decline of Deference: BALCA Does Not Speak for the DOL

By Gary Endelman and Cyrus D. Mehta In the ongoing litigation over the authority of the Department of Labor (DOL) to promulgate H-2B prevailing wage methodology in the Third Circuit, Louisiana Forestry Ass’n v. Secretary of Labor, No. 12-4030, the DOL wrote a letter  stating that the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals’ decision in Island Holdings LLC, 2013-PWD-00002 (BALCA 3, […]

Highlights of Good Moral Character in Naturalization

By Myriam Jaidi In order to qualify for naturalization, an applicant must demonstrate that she is or was a person of good moral character (GMC) throughout the relevant statutory period and through the time she takes the oath of allegiance.  See Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 101(f); Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § […]

TOP 10 POSTS ON THE INSIGHTFUL IMMIGRATION BLOG IN 2013

Thank you for reading and supporting The Insightful Immigration Blog.  Listed below are the top 10 most viewed blogs in 2013. We will continue to provide insightful commentary on contemporary immigration issues in 2014, and wish all of our supporters and well wishers a very happy New Year! While these are the 10 most viewed blogs, each blog is a […]

One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards: Immigration Benefits for Same Sex and Domestic Partners in India

By Cyrus D. Mehta and Ramya Mahesh The question of immigration benefits to same sex couples is still a far cry in India. India not only disallows same sex marriages, it also currently criminalizes relationships between same sex partners, terming them as unnatural. Section 377[i] of the Indian Penal Code (“IPC”), an archaic law, was introduced in […]

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE: THE NATURALIZATION OATH AND DUAL CITIZENSHIP

By Gary Endelman and Cyrus D. Mehta The oath ceremony is often one of the most significant and profound in an immigrant’s journey towards American citizenship. It signifies the end of the immigrant experience and is the final threshold before one’s acceptance as a citizen. It is also a happy moment, and the ceremony is generally accompanied by […]