For Immigration Litigators, there is rarely a dull moment. With multiple court hearings every day in Phoenix, Eloy, Florence, and Tucson, we are always on the move. Add to that constant changes in immigration law and policy, and you get a constantly evolving practice.
But 2015 may go down as one of the most exciting since the firm’s inception. We had dozens of major victories and we’d like to share some of the highlights.
ASYLUM: GRANTED – PRO BONO. A young woman from Honduras was the victim of extreme domestic violence and Judge O’Leary in Tucson found her credible and granted her application. The tears of joy flowed freely as we celebrated with her and now we can bring her three children to the U.S., whom she hasn’t seen in over two years!
CANCELLATION: GRANTED – REDUCED FEE. A young man whose U.S. citizen wife and children were evicted and found themselves homeless while he was in custody was granted Cancellation of Removal 42B by Judge Arellano in Tucson. This was a very difficult case and the entire office rallied to support this struggling family with homelessness and severe medical conditions that rose to the level of exceptional and extremely unusual.
ASYLUM: GRANTED – PRO BONO. A man from Nigeria was reported to the police for being gay. While in police custody, the man was tortured in ways that are best left unsaid. The International Rescue Committee Survivor’s of Torture Program referred him to us and Judge Richardson in Phoenix granted his application.
WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL: GRANTED. An entire family of three brothers and a sister fled from Honduras because gangs in that country started a war with their family after their uncles who were police officers dared to enforce the law. The sister was subject to an expedited removal order, but Judge Richardson in Phoenix granted her application for Withholding of Removal.
VAWA SPECIAL RULE CANCELLATION: GRANTED. A young woman from Mexico was granted Special Rule Cancellation of Removal, 42(b)(2), under the Violence Against Women Act, because she had been physically and mentally abused by her U.S. Citizen husband for more than ten years.
These are only some of the most memorable cases we won this year; a few among hundreds of positive outcomes for our clients. We were saddened by the departure of Miguel Zárate-Mancilla, who is joining the National Labor Relations Board, and by the retirement of our long-time legal assistant for the family department, Norma Gomez. We wish them the best!
While nobody could replace Miguel, we are pleased to announce the hiring of Ali Manuchehry. Ali brings 7 years of litigation experience from the Department of Justice, as well as his fluency in Farsi, both of which will add to the already diverse range of representative abilities we can offer to our clients.
