By Cyrus D. Mehta The DHS has commendably issued policies urging prosecutorial discretion in recent months recognizing its inability to deport all undocumented immigrants, and designating certain deportable deserving discretion immigrants under a low priority status. Especially noteworthy is the June 17 Morton Memo on prosecutorial discretion, which urges against enforcement of individuals who came […]
By Cyrus D. Mehta In the spring and summer of 2001, and the days just prior to September 11, 2001, things were not going so badly for immigrants. Although the Section 245(i) deadline of April 30, 2001 had expired, hundreds of thousands of people had managed to file their applications before the deadline to hopefully […]
By Gary Endelman and Cyrus Mehta The ability of whether the President can use discretion in the immigration arena has become the flavor of the month. The announcement by the DHS on August 18, 2001 under which 300,000 individuals who are low priority can hope to have their cases closed and obtain work authorization was […]
By Cyrus Mehta Much has been written about the amazing turn of events in the Strauss-Kahn case that resulted in the dismissal of the criminal charges against him. The Manhattan DA’s motion to dismiss the indictment reads like a treatise on the ethical role of the district attorney in prosecuting a case, while also richly […]
By Cyrus Mehta The Department of Homeland Security in a letter addressed to Senator Durbin and 21 other senators announced on August 18, 2011 a new policy that would identify low priority removal cases for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. According to a New York Times story, the beneficiaries of such discretion would also be […]
The US economy remains sluggish. The joblessness rate is still much too high. Even after the debt ceiling crisis was averted at the last minute, the compromise did not generate any excitement or renewed optimism. Indeed, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 500 points on August 4, 2011 on fears that the US […]
By Cyrus MehtaImmigration lawyers commonly encounter a client who is undocumented and asks about options to obtain status. If in the event there are no options, the next question is whether there are any options that might arise in the future. In the course of counseling the client who is not in status, can the […]
By Myriam Jaidi Second Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin’s decision in Lawson v. USCIS, 09 Civ. 10195 (DC) (issued July 7, 2011) provides a beacon of hope for individuals who have overcome a reprehensible past and wish to pursue U.S. citizenship, and serves as an exemplar to advocates and adjudicators not only on the legal […]
By Cyrus D. MehtaEver since the criminal case of Strauss-Kahn began to disintegrate after the New York District Attorney’s office revealed flaws in the credibility of the accuser, I looked back at my earlier blog, Immigration Lessons From the Fall of Strauss Kahn and feel that many of the immigration lessons I reflected upon still […]
By Cyrus D. MehtaA non-citizen placed in removal proceedings has the privilege of being represented at no expense to the government pursuant to §240(b)(4)(A) and §292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. While every non-citizen has a right to be represented by competent counsel of his or her choosing, he or she cannot ask the […]
